Qibla direction in Savannakhet

How to face the Qibla in Savannakhet

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards west and move a further 15.7° towards north: the result is the bearing of 285.7°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at west would leave you about 16° off.

Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Savannakhet to Mecca points to 274.5° (west), 11.2° away from the correct 285.7°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 44 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 16.5703° N, 104.7622° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.

Distance from Savannakhet to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 6,802 km from Savannakhet as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 6,784 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 8 h 30 min, although most pilgrims from Savannakhet connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Savannakhet run 4 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Savannakhet rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Savannakhet

On 65 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Savannakhet while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (26 days); for example, on 15 May 2027 it happens at 12:34 local time.

On 170 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in March (31 days), for instance on 15 February 2027 at 07:02.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Savannakhet: at 16:18 and 16:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Savannakhet compared with other cities

Compared with Vientiane, 277 km away, the Qibla in Savannakhet is turned 1.1° further clockwise (285.7° against 284.6°), and Mecca is 262 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Vientiane (277 km), prays towards 284.6°, a difference of 1.1°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Laos.

Qibla in cities near Savannakhet

• Vientiane284.6° · 277 km