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We headed south Highway 317 from Sa Kaeo to Chanthaburi province, about 20km past the junction with Highway 3 turned right to get to our first destination Laem Sing on the coast. Under 2km down the road is Buddha Park, Wat Charg Yai (aka Wat Shak Yai, Wat Chak Yai).
This is a pictorial - not much to say other than that the grounds are beautifully maintained, the statues are impressive, and it's a nice place to break the journey for an hour or so.
https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...4/DSCN6026.JPG..https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...4/DSCN6032.JPGThere are monks living under some of the statues, didn't look too appealing as far as the accommodation goes.
And the elephant was male - the kids made sure we knew that!
More statues under construction, this pic gives an idea of the scale of each statue.
Apart from a few workers doing lawns and gardens, three monks, 2 small shops for drinks and flowers etc, we had the whole park to ourselves. Very peaceful.
After the Buddha Park we continued towards Laem Sing on the coast, Oasis Sea World, some French history, a dirty beach, some nicer beaches, then on to Trat.
See: https://teakdoor.com/thailands-travel...ml#post1537679
looks like part of the mental meltdown.
When you are travelling it is not always a good idea to follow too closely your guidebooks. If you have the time, then explore the area and you might find some hidden gems. The other day I was happy to stumble across a Buddhist Park at Wat Chak Yai in Laem Singh District of Chanthaburi Province. You won’t find it in any guidebooks but it turned out to be the highlight of all the temples I had seen that day.
The Buddhist Park houses literally hundreds of sculptures depicting the life and stories of the Lord Buddha. A lot of time and effort has been put into making these lifelike statues. In the scene depicted in this first picture, you can see a total of 1,250 monks that came together for the final sermon of the Lord Buddha before he passed into Nirvana. This day is celebrated as Markha Bucha Day in the Buddhist calendar.
The temple was founded by Phra Ajarn Maha Bua in 1955 after some followers donated some land for him. Originally he had no intention to build temple buildings and only built a basic kuti for the monks to live in which was made from palm leaves. Ten years later, Phra Ajarn Thammaratt came to stay for one night during his journey across the country. But, he had a vision that told him that he should stay at this temple where in the future there will be many more Buddha images than monks. He did stay and later became the abbot.
tradition was started by the district chief who had a bad dream that he would lose his limbs. In order to make merit he paid for a large Buddha in the blessing posture which represents Monday the day he was born. Other people later then paid for Buddha images to illustrate either different postures or episodes in the Buddha’s life. Now there are hundreds of such statues spread around the 20 acre park. If you are interested in Buddhism and you are in the area then make an effort to come and visit this fascinating Buddhist park.
Thanks................
Ohh Thanks for the pics! I had been to Buddhist Park long back and after going through this picture I am recollecting all funs which I had done there. It is really a nice place. This place is quiet silent and feel like staying forever.
Over a year since we went there, stopped in today taking the long way home from the National Park a few km inland.
more pics:
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