Xieng Khuan Buddha Park, near Vientiane, Laos

December 1969 Issue

Xieng Khuan Buddha Park, near Vientiane, Laos

ITN Contributing Editor Julie Skurdenis snapped December’s photo at the Xieng Khuan Buddha Park, near Vientiane, Laos. She wrote, “Inside this 20-foot-tall, pumpkin-shaped, concrete demon sculpture are three levels joined by staircases. They are meant to represent Hell, Earth and Heaven.

The Buddha Park was built in 1958 by a monk, Bunleua Sulilat, who filled it with Hindu and Buddhist images, many of them gigantic. He fled Laos in 1975 after the revolution and built another sculpture park in Nong Khai, Thailand.”

Seven readers sent in correct answers, and JOHN H. MCAULIFFE of Silverdale, Washington, won the drawing.