The Elephant Temple

Today marks the final day of the semester at Assumption. Back in October, I would have deemed this as my last day here. It's crazy to think how quick my time here has gone already. I am glad to be staying not just to continue teaching at Assumption, but to be able to have the opportunity to explore this beautiful country and learn about its culture more! The last two weekends have marked the FIRST time I have visited Temples in Thailand; After visiting two in Bangkok, I went to visit one closer to my home last weekend.

With the arrival of Grace's parents, we all decided to spend our Sunday 'temple hopping', although this just turned into visiting one temple. But what a temple it was! Wat Ban Rai is located in the district of Dan Khun Thot, around 40 miles west of Korat. The most eye catching attraction, known as the 'Elephant Temple' (due to the ginormous elephant head that sits on top of it), dominated the landscape, which was filled with vast arid land and multiple houses on stilts.

The entrance to the temple, guarded by very creepy Dragon/Snake hybrids.

Upon research, I found out that the elephant sculpture is that of Airavata, a mythological creature that carries the Hindu god Indra. I had seen pictures on the internet before coming as a previous trip to it was cancelled, but upon arrival, I realised that the pictures did not do it justice. It was spectacular. Although not the actual temple, the Elephant building which was in the middle of a lake and was only completed in 2011. Instead of what I would traditionally imagine to be inside a temple, I was greeted to a really cool museum which was filled with beautiful pastel artwork, mosaic sculptures and information of the Buddhist culture and quotes.

#HipsterShot

We all eventually made our way up to the top of the temple, and was able to see right across the entire landscape. As well as acting as a viewing point, there was also a giant golden Monk (who I'd later find out to be Luang Phor Khoon Parisuttho (Luang Pho Koon), one of Thailand's most famous Monks) where you would pray and ask for your wishes to come true. I was told that this Monk is highly respected around Nakhonratchasima and that many people come to visit the statue as well as the Monk himself.

Golden Statue of Luang Pho Koon

The next stop was for us to see Luang Pho Koon in the flesh. We made our way over to the traditional Wat Ban Rai temple, and we directed to the centre of the room, where well over a hundred people were waiting to see this Monk. When I was knelt there praying, I just figured it was an ordinary Monk that people had come to pay their respects to. I didn't quite realise the status of him. Well into his 90s now, over his time as a monk, he has raised over 2 million baht to support the construction of the Elephant temple as well as raising millions of Baht to help build schools, hospitals and other temples throughout Thailand. It is quoted that his determination behind building the temple was that he would do it "for the people who give me food and water everyday."
When he was younger, he would individually bless all people that would come and see him, but now in his frail state, he sits behind a glass wall with the assistance of doctors and people will walk past the glass and present offerings, pray, and (because we all know how much Thai's love to do it) take photos/selfies. It was quite weird to see him as something for show; I saw it as somewhat dehumanising but at the sametime, being part of the stampede of people that went towards to the glass wall just to catch a glimpse of him, I came to realise what a big deal he was and how respected he is not just within the community of the Nakhonratchasima province, but throughout Thailand.

View from the top of the Elephant temple

And thus, another beautiful attraction I can tick off my list. I really must utilise my time off more and really see what Thailand has to offer. (There's me saying that when I'm going to SINGAPORE next week...haha)