Wat Choum Khong, Luang Prabang

The sim of Wat Choum Khong, Luang Prabang.

Wat Choum Khong, also written as Wat Chum Khong and Vat Choum Khong, is a small Laotian monastery on Sotika Kuman Road, one of the roads the run parallel to the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers in Luang Prabang. I visited it when I was Luang Prabang to document its sights.

Wat Choum Khong was started in 1843, during the reign of King Sukaseum. It adheres to the classic style. The name Choum Khong refers to a statue of the Buddha which was cast from a bronze gong. When I visited Wat Choum Khong, I saw the monks and novices busy doing restoration work around the compound. Apparently Wat Choum Khong had undergone three earlier restorations, in 1933, 1951 and 1963.

A unique feature I came across at Wat Choum Khong were two Chinese entrance guardians (often called door gods) at the entrance of one of the buildings. These Chinese guardian statues are often found in Thai temples in Bangkok - I remember seeing them at Wat Pho as well as Wat Arun.

Another building at Wat Choum Khong has intricate carving on the gable and door.

Chinese door gods flank the entranceway to what I believe is the monks' quarters.

The monks life is not always an easy one. Here, they are laying new floor tiles for their wat.

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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