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Laos - Vientiane - Sights- That Dam

That Dam
 

Address Th Bartholomie, That Dam

Keyword monument, religious/spiritual

Sitting at the centre of a quiet roundabout near the centre of Vientiane, legend has it that the stupa now known as That Dam, or 'Black Stupa', was once coated in a layer of gold. The gold is said to have been carted off by the Siamese during their pillaging of 1828, after which the stupa took the 'black' sobriquet in memory of the dastardly act. However, another myth is slightly at odds with this.

It says That Dam is the abode of a dormant seven-headed dragon that came to life during the 1828 Siamese-Lao war and protected local citizens, though apparently not the stupa's gold. Either way, the stupa appears to date from the Lanna or early Lan Xang period and is very similar to stupas in Chiang Saen, Thailand

Other attractions in Vientiane: Lao National Museum | Papaya Spa | Patuxai | Pha That Luang | That Dam | Wat Si Muang | Wat Si Saket | Wat Sok Pa Luang | Xieng Khuan

 

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