Wildlife

Poisonous tree snakes and centipedes are common around the Tam Ting caves. A python was said to live in the lower cave but was never seen by project members. Wasps and bats, which present distinct conservation problems, are found in both caves. Although crocodiles and tigers were common to the region until approximately twenty years ago, neither inhabits the area today

Site Description

Tam Ting consists of two limestone caves within a low but locally prominent limestone hill, situated on the west bank of the Mekong River and immediately downstream of the mouth of the Ou River, latitude 20°2', longitude 102°13'. The fishing village of Pak Ou faces the caves from the opposite side of the river and is approximately 35 km upstream from Luang Prabang. The majority of the limestone hill supports a tropical mesophyll forest cover with a tall woodland structure.

It is thought that until the early part of the sixteenth century, the caves were used as a sacrificial site for the many hierarchical Phi gods, which were believed to watch over the people. From the sixteenth century until 1975, the royal family, who lived in Luang Prabang, often visited the caves and used them as a Buddhist shrine for worship, coronations, annual New Year's festivals, and the end of the wet-season boat races. A natural spring found at the lower cave was the source for sacred water, having been used in coronation ceremonies. The royal family commissioned their own artists and artisans who produced sculptures for the caves, while the monks from Luang Prabang maintained the shrines. As of this writing, only one royally commissioned sculptor, in his eighties, survives. Regrettably, the arts of carving and gilding are rapidly disappearing in Lao, although some monks still apply gilding to wat (Buddhist temple) exteriors in Luang Prabang, and the resurgence of these arts is being encouraged in the fine arts schools of Vientiane and Luang Prabang (Vistarini 1993).

Traditionally, there were separate areas in the caves where only men were allowed, and women were forbidden to touch any of the sculptures. No one was allowed to wear shoes or hats inside the caves. Today, however, these restrictions do not seem to apply, and local men even smoke in the caves.

As the caves are active Buddhist shrines, both contain remnants of incense sticks, withered flowers, and other plant material, particularly in front of the altarlike sculptural groupings. Both caves contain evidence of human cremation remains (Fig. 4).

A dominant visual feature of both caves is the major sculptural groupings containing numerous Buddhist figures. There are approximately four thousand upright, relatively intact figures in both caves; yet, according to local people, this represents only about one-quarter of the sculptures that were present before 1975. The figures are predominantly made of wood covered with lacquer, which in turn has been covered with gold leaf. Sculptures and artifacts made of bronze, ceramic, resin, silver, and horn were also noted. The majority of the sculptures are not permanently installed and are easily moved. Photographs of the lower cave in the late 1960s indicate that significant rearrangement of sculptures has occurred since that time (White and Garrett 1968:765).

Based on the interpretation of stylistic criteria and a limited number of inscribed dates, the sculptures appear to date from at least the seventeenth to the twentieth century, with the majority displaying stylistic traits suggesting eighteenth - and nineteenth-century origins. The state of preservation of individual sculptures does not seem to reflect their age; rather, the materials of their construction, location in the caves, and previous history of usage and handling have contributed to their deterioration.

There is considerable evidence of the restoration and maintenance of the caves and their sculptures over an extended period of time. A plaque found near the mouth of the upper cave states that some restoration of the caves' contents was carried out in 1932 and advises that the king will punish anyone caught defacing the sacred site.

Figure 4

Some cremations are found in association with the sculptures. Note the stupa at the top of the cave.

The assemblages of Buddha sculptures and the riverside cave context provide Tam Ting with its major tourism appeal; paradoxically, these same features and their potential for tourism present the greatest challenges for the conservation of the site.