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Vang Sang
Text by René Sépul
Photos by Cici Olsson
This article is based on a text written by Pierre-Marie Gagneux (1927-1996). He was a French writer and historian who spent a great part of his life in Laos. Mr Gagneux discovered Indochina as a soldier in the French army. In the 60s’, after serving as the chief of the French delegation in Laos, he started a long career as a teacher at the Dong Dok University in Vientiane. At the same time he took up writing under the pseudonym of Thao Boun Souk.
He started by publishing small articles about the Lao calendar in the Bulletin des Amis du Laos and eventually became a specialist of Lao history and a true defender of Lao culture. In 1974 he was appointed "expert" at the Direction des Monuments historiques du Ministère laotien des Cultes. He is the author of an excellent but hard to find guidebook about Luang Prabang entitled Louang Phrabang, 600 ans d’art bouddhique. The text below tells how Mr Gagneux discovered the Buddhas of Vang Sang. Mr Gagneux died in France last year.
Vang Sang is situated 55 km north of Vientiane on the road to Vang Vieng. The caves of Vang Sang are the remains of an old sanctuary. It literally means "the elephants’ court". According to oral tradition the name comes from the fact that the site, long before it became a sanctuary, was located in the vicinity of an elephant cemetery. The caves house five huge Buddha sculptures carved in stone: two big Buddhas of nearly five meters, three of 1.5 meters and five smaller ones. An inscription from the year -928 of the Mahasakalat (Cambodian era), or year 1006 of the Christian era- allows us to believe that these sculptures were made during the reign of Souryavarman I, king of Angkor from 1002 to 1050. This is confirmed by the general aspect of the sculptures, the style of which can be related to Khmer art of the X and XI centuries.
"...During his reign the Angkor empire was extended to cover the whole Mekong ‘basin’ up to Luang Prabang..." Khmer annals: chronic of Souryavarmam I (1002-1050).
The last bamboo fell under the sharp machete cuts delivered by old Chane who had been leading us through the jungle the last hour. A few minutes later we emerged from a dense forest and faced two massive stone Buddhas. They were carved straight out of the rock itself, looking down at us with intimidating highness. Gigantic trees were hiding them. It was difficult to see the sky.
The kids from the neighbouring villages, who had stopped working on a small dam and followed us, couldn’t believe their eyes. Nobody knew about it. Incredible. Just a few hundred meters from their houses! Further away, down the hill and covered by thorns and bushes, were five smaller Buddhas modestly facing the ground. We had rediscovered the sculptures of the Vang Sang caves. At last!
It had been a long story. I had a friend. He was a passionate photographer. Once I had promised to bring him to Vang Sang. I had read about the place in an old Indochinese magazine. I’d never been there but according to the article it sounded easy enough to find. Since nobody had heard about the caves in the Lao capital, I just started my search east of Vientiane.
For three months, two young Laotians and myself had been working in the area: driving cars when possible, walking, going by boat on the rivers, speaking to village chiefs and old monks, interrogating hunters and farmers, visiting Vats and far-off places lost in the mountains. At night all around the Mekong plain, we were listening to stories, legends and tales about all the caves in the area: the story of Uncle Seth, the one of Father Peng, the legend of the Never Ending Holes from Som Dy, the lost Buddhas from Phone Kham. We returned home with our hands full of magnificent orchids picked along small paths in the mountain and by the rivers. But getting information about the exact location of the Vang Sang Buddhas seemed impossible.
We were beginning to despair when I heard about an article published by l’Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient. It was nearly half-a-century old but it mentioned some sculptures in a cave sixty kilometres north of Vientiane near a place called Nong Phine. At the same time, the daughter of Souvanna Phouma confirmed the existence of some caves in the same area. She said she would never forget the magnificent Buddhas lost in the jungle which she had seen as a child while accompanying her father in the area.
We went there. The direction this time wasn’t northeast but north. We followed the road to Luang Prabang. The village of Nong Phine had disappeared. Nobody had ever heard about it. Nobody remembered.
But a few weeks later, however, in the village of Hoey Thaon, we met an old farmer who took us to the caves of Vang Sang. His name was Chane. Thanks to him we rediscovered a forgotten monument and proof of the strong Khmer influence in the XI century--more than three hundred years before the kingdom of a Million Elephants was founded by King Fa Ngum.
Vang Sang was restored in the 70s’ by Les Jeunnesses Revolutionaires. It became a lovely step for tourists on their way to Nam Ngum, Vang Vieng or Luang Prabang. People from Vientiane used to visit the sanctuary on Sunday afternoons and have picnics there. Sadly enough the site seems to, once again, have fallen into oblivion. It’s a pity since it’s still a charming place as well as one of the most interesting historical sites near Vientiane.