If you have heard the term wat for the first time, let's first clarify what it actually means. A wat, when translated into English, signifies a temple or a monastery. However, in reality a wat is much more than the two mentioned above. Infact, it is what people term as the focus of a town, city or a neighbourhood.

The origin of wats lay in the wanderings of monks/ ascetics. These monks/ ascetics paid a visit to Buddhist shrines which later came to be known as wats in the 14th century. Still later, the significance of these wats enhanced multifold, and by the culmination of 18th century, they became monasteries and then the focus of the Laotian village or a community.

The design of the wat adhered to the traditional design and its main building was called sim. The wats, unlike many monasteries of the world, neither own any land nor has any source of income. The monks of the wats earn their food by begging for alms. The saving grace, however, is the patronage provided by different Buddhist communities of Laos.

During your Buddhist tour to Laos, these wats will be the first one to catch your attention. Some of them are huge while others are small, but despite that the attraction of each is tremendous. The atmosphere of spirituality that seeps in deep inside you the moment you step inside these wats is simply indescribable.

This section gives you details of wats, each wat individually, its history, location, architecture and also wats to be visited nearby. Modes of transport to reach these wat are also specified so that it becomes easier for you to access them.

In brief, this section will let you know all about each of these wats before you actually make a visit to them.