That Luang Stupa
Pha That Luang ( lo, ທາດຫຼວງ or ພຣະທາດຫລວງ; 'Great Stupa') is a gold-covered large Buddhist stupa in the centre of the city of Vientiane, Laos. Since its initial establishment, suggested to be in the 3rd century AD, the stupa has undergone several reconstructions as recently as the 1930s due to foreign invasions of the area. It is generally regarded as the most important national monument in Laos and a national symbol. History Buddhist missionaries from the Mauryan Empire are believed to have been sent by the Emperor Ashoka, including Bury Chan or Praya Chanthabury Pasithisak and five Arahanta monks who brought a sacred relic (believed to be the breastbone) of Lord Buddha and enshrined into the stupa in 3rd century BC. It was rebuilt in the 13th century as a Khmer temple which fell into ruin. In the mid-16th century, King Setthathirat relocated his capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane and ordered the construction of Pha That Luang in 15 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gerrit Van Wuysthoff
Gerrit van Wuysthoff (also Geraerd Wuesthoff; lived in the 17th century) was a Dutch merchant and served the Dutch East India Company. According to sources, he was the first European to visit what is now Laos, one year before Jesuit missionary Giovanni Maria Leria. Biography: the first Westerner in Laos In 1641, Wuysthoff undertook an exploration trip from the then capital of Cambodia, Longvek, to Vientiane in northern Laos on behalf of the Cambodian trading post of the East India Company. His companions were a barber who also worked as a field clerk, an interpreter, two porters and a group of Laotian merchants. The journey began during the rainy monsoon season on July 20, 1641, with a collection of goods and gifts to the King of Lan Xang, Sourigna Vongsa, who resided in Vientiane. A total of 30 people went up the Mekong in 12 boats. Wuysthoff's trip was determined by two reasons: first the Dutch East India Company wanted to find out how profitable the trade with Lan Xang co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cetiya
upright=1.25, Phra Pathom Chedi, one of the biggest Chedis in Thailand; in Thai, the term Chedi (cetiya) is used interchangeably with the term Stupa Cetiya, "reminders" or "memorials" (Sanskrit ''caitya''), are objects and places used by Buddhism, Buddhists to remember Gautama Buddha.Kalingabodhi jātaka, as quoted in John Strong, ''Relics of the Buddha'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004), 19 According to Damrong Rajanubhab, four kinds are distinguished in the Pāli Canon: "Relic hatu Memorial aribhoga Teaching hamma and votive desaka" Griswold, in contrast, states that three are traditional and the fourth, the Buddha Dhamma, was added later to remind monks that the true memory of Gautama Buddha can be found in his teachings. While these can be broadly called Buddhist symbolism, the emphasis tends to be on a historical connection to the Buddha and not a metaphysical one. In pre-Buddhist India ''caitya'' was a term for a shrine or holy place in the landscape, gener ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jayavarman VII
Jayavarman VII, posthumous name of Mahaparamasaugata ( km, ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី៧, c. 1122–1218), was king of the Khmer Empire. He was the son of King Dharanindravarman II (r. 1150–1160) and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He was the first king devoted to Buddhism, as only one prior Khmer king was a Buddhist. He then built the Bayon as a monument to Buddhism. Jayavarman VII is generally considered the most powerful of the Khmer monarchs by historians. His government built many projects including hospitals, highways, rest houses and temples. With Buddhism as his motivation, King Jayavarman VII is credited with introducing a welfare state that served the physical and spiritual needs of the Khmer people. Defeat of the Cham and coronation In 1177 and again in 1178, the Cham invaded the Khmer Empire. In 1177, Champa King Jaya Indravarman IV launched a surprise attack on the Khmer capital by sailing a fleet up the Mekong River, across Lake Tonlé Sap, and then up ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Naga Pha That Luang1
Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions * Naga Kingdom, in the epic ''Mahabharata'' * Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong River * Naga, another name for Bakunawa, a sea serpent deity in Filipino mythology Clans and ethnic groups * Naga people, an ethnic group of northeast India and northwest Burma * Nagas of Padmavati, a royal dynasty of the 3–4 centuries AD * Naga Rajputs, a group of Rajput clans * Naga people (Lanka), an ancient tribe of Sri Lanka * Naga Sadhus, Hindu ascetics of the Himalayas Hot peppers * Naga Morich * Bhut jolokia * Naga Viper pepper Organizations * Naga Regiment, an infantry regiment of the Indian Army * North American Grappling Association * North American Guqin Association * National African American Gun Association People * Prince Naga (c. 8th century), Japanese prince * Tarek Naga (born 1953), Egyptian architect * Nagarjuna (acto ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly used in Gothic architecture. The pinnacle had two purposes: # Ornamental – adding to the loftiness and verticity of the structure. They sometimes ended with statues, such as in Milan Cathedral. # Structural – the pinnacles were very heavy and often rectified with lead, in order to enable the flying buttresses to contain the stress of the structure vaults and roof. This was done by adding compressive stress (a result of the pinnacle weight) to the thrust vector and thus shifting it downwards rather than sideways. History The accounts of Jesus' temptations in Matthew's and Luke's gospels both suggest that the Second Temple in Jerusalem had one or more pinnacles ( gr, το πτερυγιον του ιερου): :Then he (Satan) br ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Culture Of Laos
Laos developed its culture and customs as the inland crossroads of trade and migration in Southeast Asia over millennia. As of 2012 Laos has a population of roughly 6.4 million spread over 236,800 km2 (91,400 sq miles), yielding one of the lowest population densities in Asia. Yet the country of Laos has an official count of over forty-seven ethnicities divided into 149 sub-groups and 80 different languages. The Lao Loum have throughout the country's history comprised the ethnic and linguistic majority. In Southeast Asia, traditional Lao culture is considered one of the Indic cultures (along with Burma, Thailand and Cambodia). Laos is geographically isolated and mountainous, bounded by the Annamite Range in the east, forming a traditional political and cultural boundary with Vietnam (a more Chinese influenced Sinitic culture). Much of the western borders of Laos are formed by the Mekong River which provided the major means of inland trade despite limited navigability a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Franco-Thai War
The Franco-Thai War (October 1940 – January 28, 1941, th, กรณีพิพาทอินโดจีน, Krṇī phiphāth xindocīn; french: Guerre franco-thaïlandaise) was fought between Thailand and Vichy France over certain areas of French Indochina. Negotiations with France shortly before World War II had shown that the French government was willing to make appropriate changes in the boundaries between Thailand and French Indochina, but only slightly. Following the Fall of France in 1940, Major-General Plaek Pibulsonggram (popularly known as "Phibun"), the prime minister of Thailand, decided that France's defeat gave the Thais an even better chance to regain the vassal state territories that were ceded to France during King Chulalongkorn's reign. The German military occupation of Metropolitan France rendered France's hold on its overseas possessions, including French Indochina, tenuous. The colonial administration was now cut off from outside help and outside su ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Louis Delaporte
Louis Delaporte (Loches, January 11, 1842 – Paris, May 3, 1925) was a French explorer and artist, whose collection and documentation of Khmer art formed the nucleus of exhibitions in Paris, originally at the 1878 Paris Exposition and later at the Palais du Trocadéro, where he became chief curator of the Musée Indochinois. In 1927, after his death, his collection was moved to the Guimet Museum. French Mekong expedition (1866–1868) The first systematic exploration of the Mekong River, considered "the wildest of the world's great rivers," was the French Mekong expedition led by Ernest Doudard de Lagrée and Francis Garnier, which ascended the river from its mouth to Yunnan between 1866 and 1868. Delaporte, a young naval officer, was chosen because of his talent in drawing to accompany them through what was then French Indochina. This expedition took the young artist to Angkor Wat. Years later, in his 1880 book ''Voyage au Cambodge'', Delaporte recorded his impressions: ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lao Rebellion (1826–28)
__NOTOC__ Lao may refer to: Laos * Something of, from, or related to Laos, a country in Southeast Asia * Lao people (people from Laos, or of Lao descent) * The Lao language * Lao script, the writing system used to write the Lao language ** Lao (Unicode block), a block of Lao characters in Unicode * LAO, the international vehicle registration code for Laos Other places * Mount Lao (), Qingdao, China * Lao River, Italy, a river of southern Italy * Lao River, Thailand, a tributary of the Kok River in Thailand * Lao, Bhutan * Lao, Estonia, village in Tõstamaa Parish, Pärnu County * Lao, Togo * LAO, IATA code of Laoag International Airport in the Philippines Philosophers * Laozi or Lao-Tzu, philosopher and poet of ancient China. Other * Alternative spelling of Liu, common Chinese surname * Linear alpha olefin * California Legislative Analyst's Office * Legal Aid Ontario * Legislative Affairs Office * The material lanthanum aluminate, or LaAlO3 See also * Loa (other) ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |