Haw Kham, Luang Prabang

Haw Kham, the Royal Palace Museum of Luang Prabang.

Haw Kham is the former Royal Palace of Luang Prabang. Located right at the centre of town, today it is the Royal Palace Museum. The name Haw Kham means golden hall. King Sisavang Vong built it as his official residence between 1904 and 1909, after the previous palace was destroyed in 1887 by invaders. Unlike the original structure that faces the Mekong river, the rebuilt structure faces Mount Phousi

The Royal Palace was built in a combination of Lao and French styles. The layout is cruciform on a multi-tiered platform. I visited it twice, once with fellow AsiaExplorers members, and the second time on my own, to do my photoshoot of it. Within the museum is the throne room, and other items belonging to the Laotian royal family.

The most important item at the Royal Palace Musum is the Pha Bang Buddha image. This is the Buddha statue that gave its name to Luang Prabang. This statue is only 83 cm high, but is made from almost pure gold weighing between 43 to 54 kg of gold. According to legend, the statue was made in Sri Lanka in the 1st century AD, and was presented to the Khmers of Angkor. The King of Angkor, Jayavarman Paramesvara, gave it to his son-in-law, the great warrior Chao Fa Ngum, who founded the first Laotian Kingdom of Lan Xang. The Pha Bang Buddha was housed at Wat Wisunalat between 1513 to 1707, when King Phothisalat moved the capital to Vientiane.

The Siamese seized the Pha Bang Buddha image twice, in 1779 and 1827. It was finally returned to Laos in 1867 by King Mongkut of Siam. As I wrote this (October 2006), the Pha Bang Buddha would finally have moved from within the Royal Palace Museum into the newly completed Haw Pha Bang Chapel, also within the museum grounds.

Side view of the Royal Palace Museum.

The Royal Palace Museum as seen from the top of Mount Phousi.

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