The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.
Vientiane, Vientiane · 17.9762°, 102.6343°
The national symbol of Laos — a gold-covered lotus-bud stupa raised by Setthathirath when he moved the Lan Xang capital to Vientiane, on a site tradition traces to an Ashokan-era relic mission. Sacked in the 19th century and restored under the French, it centres the That Luang festival each November full moon, when the whole nation processes with wax flower-castles.
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
Five monks returning from India, the chronicle says, brought the Buddha's breastbone and enshrined it here in the 3rd century BCE under a first stupa — Laos joining its origin to Ashoka's great relic diaspora.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Lan Xang
Answers only from cited records
Opening the line…