280707 + 021209 Wat Nongbone - 05 misc

The place where cremations were held, as mentioned here:


Photo by K-san

The coconuts must be good, for 'rungs' to be nailed on the trunk for easy access?

A peaceful respite in central Vientiane - this section has the feel of a 'wat pa' (forest temple):



Remains of a stupa?



Perimeter wall:

280707 + 021209 Wat Nongbone - 04 Pha Lak Pha Lam

Paintings on two of the buildings at the back of the temple compound:



Green monkey flanked by two mermaids:




In front of the other stairs:



With discus & trident in hand, against a backdrop of what looks like the top half of the Singapore flag, albeit missing one star:



Lao meow in Lao wat:

021209 Wat Nongbone - 03 new sim

Not sure if this is a new building or the complete makeover of an old one. For some reason it faces the perimeter wall (towards Pha That Luang) - away from all other buildings in the temple - & with just a few metres between its front entrance & the wall. In July 2007 it was all bare concrete, in December 2009 some progress had been made:




Emaciated Buddha on the rear gable:



At one point during his search for Enlightenment, he ate only one grain of rice (in some accounts, a leaf or a nut) a day, thinking that he could put an end to desire by fasting...only to realise that desire cannot be ended by extreme asceticism.



Main door - before (280707):



Main door - after (021209):



The dashes of white paint on the left pillar haven't changed one bit :P

An aura of whitewash:



Windows so new, the panels still clad in shrinkwrap:





Detail of window/door frames - face in the center might be a kala (kirtimukha), a demon that has no lower jaw & body because it was told by Lord Shiva to eat itself up:



What might be the head of a ramad with horn that looks more like an elephant's trunk?

280707 Wat Nongbone - 02 pavilion + drum tower

Pavilion:





Monks' quarters:




Temples in Vientiane & Huay Xai have huge multi-storey drum towers, unlike the small little single-storey ones in the temples of Luang Prabang:


Photo by K-san

It was 4:00PM:


Photo by K-san

While hunting for the sim (main chapel) we found these bits & pieces lying around & signs of construction work in progress: