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Until the communist takeover in 1975 this building directly
opposite the town rock was the king's palace. The building
itself is not very old. Its construction, consuming 20 years,
was begun only in 1904. But it contains spectacular objects
of art. However, the museum's most important piece of art
can only be admired as a copy, a small Buddha statue by
the name Pra Bang.Luang Prabang may well be translated as
Capital of Holy Bang.
The original statue is from 80 % gold. It is 83 centimetres
high and weighs 50 kilograms. Allegedly, it was made in
Ceylon in the first century of Christian reckoning. In the
11th century it was kept in Angkor until it was brought
to Luang Prabang by the Laotian King Fa Ngoum, after he
had married a Khmer princess. When King Setthathirat made
Vientiane the capital of Laos, he took the statue there.
In 1779 it was robbed by the Siamese, but was returned in
1839. The statue is the most important holy object of Laotian
Buddhism.
For security reasons the original statue is said to be
kept in a bank safe.
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