Competence Network DORISEA – Dynamics of Religion in Southeast Asia 1 DORISEA WORKING PAPER ISSUE 12, 2014, ISSN: 2196-6893 KHAMVONE BOULYAPHONH PHA KHAMCHAN VIRACHITTA MAHA THELA AND THE PRESERVATION OF THE LAO CULTURAL HERITAGE IN LUANG PRABANG, LAOS 12 DORISEA Working Paper, ISSUE 12, 2014, ISSN: 2196-6893 DORISEA WORKING PAPER SERIES EDITORS Peter J. Bräunlein Michael Dickhardt Karin Klenke Andrea Lauser BMBF Competence Network “Dynamics of Religion in Southeast Asia” (DORISEA) The research network “Dynamics of Religion in Southeast Asia” (DORISEA) is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) and coordinated by the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Georg-August-University of Göttingen. Scholars from the Universities of Göttingen, Hamburg, Münster, Heidelberg and Berlin (Humboldt University) are involved in several projects that investigate the relationship between religion and modernity in Southeast Asia. How to cite this paper: Khamvone Boulyaphonh (2014): Pha Khamchan Virachitta Maha Thela and the Preservation of the Lao Cultural Heritage in Luang Prabang, Laos. In: DORISEA Working Paper Series, No. 12. Research Network DORISEA Dynamics of Religion in Southeast Asia Project Office Georg-August-University Göttingen Institut für Ethnologie Berliner Str. 28 FUNDED BY D - 37073 Göttingen Germany +49 (0)551 39 20153
[email protected] www.dorisea.net Competence Network DORISEA – Dynamics of Religion in Southeast Asia 3 KHAMVONE BOULYAPHONH PHA KHAMCHAN VIRACHITTA MAHA THELA AND THE PRESERVATION OF THE LAO CULTURAL HERITAGE IN LUANG PRABANG, LAOS ABSTRACT Pha Khamchan Virachitta Maha Thela, the late abbot of Vat Saen Sukharam and chairman of the Buddhist Fellowship Organization of the province of Luang Prabang, was one of the most outstanding Lao intellectuals of the 20th century.