Over one thousand Buddhist laymen celebrated the 14th anniversary of the installation of the Chao Fa Ngum Statue in Vientiane on Jan 5 at the park named after the late king.

Also taking part in the event were Vice Mayor of Vientiane Capital Sihoun Sitthiluxay and senior party and government officials.

One hundred monks were invited for an alms giving ceremony held in honour of the late king.

Fourteen years ago, more than ten thousand people converged at today’s Chao Fa Ngum Park to hold a ritual for the installation of the statue of King Fa Ngum onto the prepared foundation to commemorate King Fa Ngum and the establishment of the Kingdom of Lane Xang in the 14th century.

In 1353, Chao Fa Ngum (King Fa Ngum) founded Lane Xang Hom Khao or also known as Kingdom of a Million Elephants.

According to the legend, King Fa Ngum was the last son of Chao Fa Ngiew and was born with 33 teeth in 1316. For this reason or some other non specified reason, the baby prince was banished and rafted downstream the Mekong River to the Khmer Kingdom of Angkor where he grew up and married a Khmer princess.

In 1350-1353, with the support of Khmer Kingdom of Angkor, Fa Ngum returned to Xieng Thong to assemble an army and unified small villages to establish the Lane Xang Kingdom. He reigned as King until 1372.

Source:
courtesy of KPL NEWS AGENCY

by KPL News

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