My Very First Visit to a Buddhist Temple

There are plenty of Buddhist temples in the Chinatown of Binondo but I never dared to enter one because I'm not a Buddhist. Meanwhile, in Cebu I visited a Taoist temple, which I think has lots of similarities with Buddhism. Thus, entering a Buddhist temple here in Thailand is novelty for me.

Buddhism is the major religion here in Thailand. About 95% of the population are Buddhists*. Images of Buddha and other famous monks are everywhere. They can be found in front of houses, public places, and even hanging as necklaces of the Thais. Due to this, Buddhist temples can be found everywhere.

I am not thrilled or motivated to visit any wat (Thai word for temple). But, as they say, a visit to Thailand will never be complete if you haven't entered at least one wat. So, one day, during a trip to a nature park north of Bangkok, I found myself within the grounds of a big wat.

The place is truly big. The grounds is covered with grass and well-cared garden. There is also a big eatery, which just shows that this wat has many devotees.

I didn't record the name of this wat because it is written in Thai letters. I also have no idea where this wat is located. Thankfully, members of the Thailand Photo community in Google+ supplied the info that I need.

According to Bengt Johansen, this wat was established by a famous Thai actor to honor Promraungsri, who is a monk who lived 150 years ago.

What's impressing with the Thai people is their generosity for their religion. They have no qualms giving golds or precious items to the their temples. Thus, their temples are adorned with gold or other precious items.

A Buddhist friend told me that they believe that offering more to their Buddha brings more luck or good fortune. Thus, they don't worry to give gold to their monks because they are sure that they will receive twofold or threefold of what they gave.

It was a weekend during our visit to the wat and the place is a little crowded by devotees. Many of them came to this temple by busloads. What they went to see is the big statue of Promraungsri within the temple.

We ended our short stopover and once again hit the road for our very long trip to Pukhieo Wildlife Sanctuary.

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*Info on percent population of Buddhist obtained from Thailand page of Wikipedia.