Vat Phu Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Champasak Province, Southern Laos.

Vat Phu
The Walkway of Kings
The Phou Kao Mountain has always had spiritual significance and was paramount to the Khmer Kingdom being the gateway to the Heavens. Upon entering the mountain sanctuary the living King would be consecrated and become one with Shiva, the Hindu God of destruction (that which is not) acquiring divine power and become the most powerful Man on Earth.
The Eastern gate at Angkor, built 500 years later, aligns directly to this 11th Century temple and Kings would travel 150 miles along the ancient Khmer road to this heavily guarded complex. There is evidence that the Mountain was of religious significance before the temple was constructed found in stone carvings dating back to the 5th Century AD and even prehistoric remains.
The Phou Kao Mountain has a natural lingam at its peak and a freshwater spring feeding the lakes and various levels of the site. In Paske, I was very fortunate to meet Roberto Morzano a distinguished archeologist, the co-author of the book Vat Phu , The Mountain of Shiva and a leading authority having worked on this site. Roberto describes the site as follows:
*It is rich in complex symbolism and built according to a precise cosmological design, in a way that at the same time it is a map of the sky and the earth and also a calendar, conceived as an earthly imitation of paradise"
To reach the Sanctuary there is a walkway of carved sandstone lingam, symbolic representations of Shiva and his wife Parvati at the base (Yoni). They may also be thought of as Lotus buds representing the birth of life heading to the sky. Only a King would use this pathway. The large lakes (barays) either side fed by sacred mountain water are understood to represent the universal Ocean of the Wold segregating the world of Men from that of God.

The walkway leads to two rectangular buildings constructed from stone without mortar that mirror each other.

note 1. Karla is a mystical monster that, like some people I've worked for, devours time.
note 2. Airavata the three headed elephant is believed to guard one of the points of the compass.
Journey from Pakse to Champasak
Yorumlar