The full moon falls on the 22nd of this month, but the festivities begin three days beforehand. Vendors set up market stalls selling souvenirs, snacks and drinks. There are also visual arts performances. On the final day, alms giving rites and sermons from monks mark the passing of another festival.
Sikhottabong Temple is one of Laos’s holiest religious sites. The original stupa is said to be 2,500 years old and to house relics of the Lord Buddha. It was restored and remoulded to its present shape 500 years ago. A number of facelifts in the intervening period have kept the stupa in top-top condition.
Sikhottabong Temple is about seven kilometres to the south of Thakhek. Thakhek is on the opposite bank of the Mekong River from the Thai province of Nakhon Phanom. 12GO ASIA sells tickets for travel to Nakhon Phanom from various locations in Thailand.
Lao town of Thakhek holds festival at landmark temple
News in Asia
The northern Laos town of Thakhek is getting ready to hold a key annual festival. The Sikhottabong Stupa Festival is staged on the full moon night of the old lunar calendar and has been held at Sikhottabong Temple every year since the 1560s.