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This large squat stupa is the temple's most notable feature. It’s properly know as That Pathum (Lotus Stupa), but is more commonly known as That Makmo because its shape resembles a watermelon ('makmo' is Lao for watermelon). Its style, more Srilankan that Lao, is the only stupa with this shape in Laos, & perhaps even in Cambodia or Vietnam. The interior of the original stupa, which was built in 1503, was filled with hundreds of small Buddha images made of precious metals & crystal. When the stupa was destroyed by the Chinese Haw incursion in 1887, they smashed open the stupa & stole most of the images. Those that remain are now on display in the Royal Palace Museum. The reconstruction of the stupa was finally undertaken in the late 1920s & wasn’t completed until 1932.
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Asia
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