Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape

Why this place matters

UNESCO’s assessment of its heritage significance, adapted in formatting from the source dataset.

Brief synthesis

Covering an area of 39,000 ha, Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape is located on the Mekong River in southern Lao PDR, 500 km southeast of the capital, Vientiane. The Vat Phou temple complex is at the heart of a sophisticated designed cultural landscape centred on the Champasak Plain, bordered to the west by the Phou Kao Mountain, which is also known as the Lingaparvata, and to the east by the Mekong River, and associated mainly with the Khmer Empire. Along an east-west axis, from the riverbank to the mountaintop, and extending around 10 kilometres, temples, shrines, and waterworks were arranged in a geometric pattern symbolising Hindu beliefs regarding the relationship between nature and humanity. Such beliefs were also manifested in various artworks, including sculptures and reliefs of exceptional quality and traditional intangible expressions.

The landscape also incorporated two planned cities, Shrestrapura dating from the 5th to 7th century CE, on the banks of the Mekong River, and its successor, Lingapura south of Vat Phou temple, dating from 9th to 13th century CE, as well as many large-scale civil engineering works, including ancient water management systems and a road leading to Angkor, designed to fulfil practical and spiritual needs grounded in Hindu cosmology. The Vat Phou temple complex is a major example of early and classic Khmer architecture, with origins dating from the 7th to the 12th centuries CE, while the remains of Lingapura city represent one of the earliest known urban settlements in Southeast Asia. A remarkable array of monuments and structures, including temples, shrines, water tanks, water channels, quarries, historic agricultural systems, ancient roads, and settlements, contain outstanding art and architectural elements of exceptional quality, such as the Tomo Temple complex, a late Khmer period architectural ensemble. This well-preserved designed landscape thus reflects over a thousand years of continuous development and interaction with nature and is one of the most significant sites associated with the Khmer Empire.

Through its surviving monuments and well preserved archaeological remains it reflects the structures of Khmer society, its technologies such as roads and the control of water using canals and baray (reservoir), and its economic basis.

Criterion (iii):

The Temple Complex of Vat Phou bears exceptional testimony to the cultures of Southeast Asia, and in particular to the Khmer Empire, which dominated the region in the 9th–14th centuries.

Criterion (iv):

The Vat Phou complex is an outstanding example of the integration of a symbolic landscape of great spiritual significance to its natural surroundings.

Criterion (vi):

Contrived to express the Hindu version of the relationship between nature and humanity, Vat Phou exhibits a remarkable complex of monuments and other structures over an extensive area between river and mountain, some of outstanding architecture, many containing great works of art, and all expressing intense religious conviction and commitment.

Integrity

The integrity of the property is related to the integrity of the whole cultural landscape setting, the evidence for deliberate planning, and the association of various elements including standing structures, buried archaeological remains and surviving sites as visible earthworks. All of these elements are considered integral to an expression of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value. All are original and with their in situ historical and archaeological contexts remaining undisturbed. It is relatively easy to see how the various elements articulate with one another.

Furthermore, the landscape setting, at the foothills of the mountain, consisting of shallow rice paddy fields and small agricultural settlements, has preserved its natural topographic elements and traditional appearance.

Authenticity

The river and the mountain, the frame of the human-made complex, remain in place and little altered; the plain in between is probably more wooded and less coherent in appearance than it was a thousand years ago. Overall, however, authenticity in this respect is high. The various elements comprising the landscape survive well as archaeological sites or standing ruins. It is therefore relatively easy to see how the elements were articulated with one another and to understand their relationships.

The axial arrangement of structures in relation to the Lingaparvata of Phou Kao is clearly visible. The general depth of archaeological stratigraphy is no more than 0.5 m in the urban sites, but neither natural nor human disturbance has so far been significant. The archaeological integrity is, therefore, high but vulnerable. Of former structures, the most notable earthworks are the ramparts around the Ancient City.

Some damage has been caused by cuts through them (e.g. for modern roads), but the most serious damage has been erosion of the second and third walls of the Ancient City by a stream and the Mekong River. Other upstanding earthworks include the roads, canals, and baray, and mounds where buildings or other structures have collapsed and become overgrown. Erosion, some robbing and digging has affected these features but generally they are in good condition. While no ancient buildings are intact, most survive to the tops of their walls.

The standing structures are therefore still entirely authentic with a high level of integrity despite partial collapse. Most of the present population lives away from the main archaeological complexes. Many of the inhabited houses are traditional in form, but developmental pressures are mounting in Champasak town. Nevertheless, overall, with little vegetational or other natural changes and minimal archaeological or restorative activity, the integrity and authenticity of the site of this property are remarkably high, although vulnerable.

Protection management and requirements The Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape are protected by the Provincial Decree on the Regulations for the Preservation of the Historical Site of Vat Phou and the Areas related to Vat Phou No 38/88 (October 1988). Not just limited to the main standing monuments, this Decree defined a large Protection Zone. Within the zone three Preservation Areas cover the main archaeological complexes. The national legal framework for heritage preservation is provided by the Law Concerning National Heritage No 08/NA, adopted by the National Assembly in 2005.

Management is undertaken in accordance with the Champasak Heritage Management Plan that was officially adopted by the Government in September 1998 and needs updating on a regular basis. The Plan defines the boundaries of the Protection Zone and the three Preservation Areas. It contains regulations for the management of the property to cover archaeological work, conservation, and development control. In addition, action plans to identify priority management measures are developed every five years.

The Department of Vat Phou Champasak World Heritage manages the property. It has staff trained in archaeology, architecture and city planning, and cooperates closely with various international teams of experts. The Government has also established a National Inter-Ministerial Co-ordinating Committee to oversee the management of the Protection Zone, and to integrate the activities of the various Government Departments at national, provincial, and district levels. Long-term challenges for the management of the property principally concern the control of urban and infrastructure development within the large, historic cultural landscape.

In addition, other challenges arise from environmental pressures (mainly flooding, run-off, and erosion), visitor/tourism pressures (including that of the annual February festival) and a growing population within the protected zone that have higher lifestyle expectations. The continuing integrity of the property relies on the importance of adhering to the government approved management plan in order to conserve the heritage values of all four protected zones through inter-departmental coordination and on-property management. Without this cohesive approach, and access to appropriate professional knowledge, it is vulnerable to visitor and other infrastructure developments, environmental pressures and, particularly during the monsoon season, water erosion.