Pak Ou Buddha Caves.

Situated 25kms north of Luang Prabang lie the Pak Ou Caves, also known as the Cave of a Thousand Buddhas. It is believed that the Lao people first entered the river valley in the middle of the eighth century after moving southward from southern China. It was not until considerably later that Buddhism first spread into the area from the west.

By the 16th Century Buddhism had been adopted by the royal families of Lao and the cave received patronage from that time until 1975. There are more than 4,000 sculptures of Buddha in these caves, placed there by worshipers from between the 18th and 20th centuries.

The lower cave has approximately 2,500 sculptures. We have no imagery of the upper cave as it is in complete darkness and we felt it would be disrespectful to use a camera with high powered flash.

The entrance to the Pak Ou Caves

History of the Caves