Over the weekend during our visit to Lan Saka I was looking forward to visit a big temple or 'Wat' that I saw two weeks before on the way home. Little did I know how big and important this Wat actually is.
It turned out to be Wat That Noi (วัดธาตุน้อย), which housed a big reclining Buddha statue (Phra Non) but more importantly, the mortal remains of Por Tan Klai, a famous monk from a decade ago (1876-1970). This used to be the temple where he lived.
Wat That Noi is part of Wat Mahatat in Nakhon Si Thammarat town, the big temple we visited in 2007 and over the recent New Year's eve.
Phra Non or reclining Buddha
PT Klai was named the 'Golden Mouth Master' because he kept a vow of silence for many years. He didn't want to speak because whatever he said came true, and he felt sad for the bad things that happened if he predicted them. Although he did not speak, followers found ways to get around his vow, they got him to nod or shake his head in response to their queries on various matters.
Chedi with remains of PT Klai
It turned out that near Lan Saka there was another temple, Wat Khiri Kan, where he used to live and on top of a nearby mountain there was a sub part of Wat Khiri Kan where many of his followers visit and stop their cars or motorbikes to pay their respect. Hopefully more on this later.
Mortal remains of PT Klai
The remains are PT Klai's bones only. It's on the top part of the chedi and may people visit. We where there on a Sunday and it was really busy, probably it's quieter during week days.
A big PT Klai and two Saam Ma Nen
As already mentioned, it's a big temple and you an wander around a bit, there's plenty to see and everywhere are small buildings, pavillions or even entries in the main chedi where you can find more statues of either PT Klai or other deities.
Above is a big statue of PT Klai's head with two 'Saam Ma Nen', the small statues had boxes in their hands and when you put some money inside, a tape played, praying for you.
Bodhisatta
Inside the shrine you an find the skeletal Bodhisatta, the 5 ascetics, Phra Indra playing the lute (to remind the Bodhisatta of the Middle Way) as well as the lady Sujata (on the right, unfortunately not on the picture) who offered milk rice to him before his final struggle towards Enlightenment.
Deity
Another deity that is hidden in one of the smaller buildings on the Temple grounds, This one was a mean looking one!
Pavillion
Very worthwhile to stop for a visit, here's a link on how to get there, it's about 20 km from Lan Saka or about an hour or a bit more from Nakhon Si Thammarat town.
Pang Palelai Buddha and PT Klai
It turned out that my wife already had an amulet from PT Klai, given to her by her Grandma, which she in turn received when PT Klai was still alive! At all three locations we visited during this trip, dedicated to PT Klai, she bought more amulets!
On 'Wayne's Dhamma blog' you can find a few more pictures of the Wat That Noi, from his 2009 visit to this Wat.
Don't forget to use my Camille's Samui hotel recommendation blog and my Camille's Thailand hotel recommendation blog for all your hotel bookings on Koh Samui and around Thailand. By doing so, you will support my blog. Thanks folks!
Camille
No comments:
Post a Comment