Wat Pahk Nahm Phasi Chareun (วัดปากน้ำภาษีเจริญ)

Thai. ‘Phasi Chareun Estuary Temple’. Name of a royal temple in Bangkok's Phasi Chareun district, located at the confluence, or pahk nahm, of the Khlong Dam and Phasi Chareun canals with Bangkok Yai Canal, hence the name of this temple, which was established in 1610, during the Ayutthaya period. In 1916, Phra Mongkon Thepmuni, also known as Luang Poo Sod (fig.), became the temple's abbot, which he remained until his death in 1959. This influential monk founded the Dhammakaya tradition, revived the temple, and besides teaching meditation to monks, nuns and laypeople alike, he also built a school for Pali studies, which became a leading institute of the country. He had a lasting impact on the temple and after his demise, his body was not cremated, but kept in a gilded coffin, inside a special hall at the temple (fig.), which up to present is an important place for visitors to come and pay their respects. The inner walls of temple's ubosot, which houses a golden Buddha image seated in the maravijaya pose, feature elaborate murals that have been numbered and are arranged in rectangular tile-like squares. On the outside, the immediate surroundings of the ubosot have been covered by a corridor-like hall, which connects to other buildings within the complex as well as to other corridors, allowing for monks and visitors to get around without getting exposed to the natural elements. Interestingly, the temple houses a large and colourful collection of religious fans for monks, which are known as pad yot (fig.). Many of those have been put on display at the wooden beams of the corridors and the covered corridor-like hall around the ubosot. In the vicinity of the ubosot is a small ho trai which has been richly decorated with waen fah, similar to the elaborate name signs used for both the temple complex and some of its buildings. Along the Phasi Chareun Canal, the temple features a tall stupa known as Phra Maha Chedi Maha Raja Mongkon, and in 2017 construction started on a giant 69 metre tall Buddha image (fig.), adjacent to the stupa and known as Phra Phutta Thammakaya Thep Mongkhon. Opposite this giant Buddha is the Sala Sod, a large hall named after Luang Poo Sod and used by the clergy as refectory. Also transliterated Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen and often referred to as just Wat Pahk Nahm or Wat Paknam. See also TRAVEL PICTURES (1), (2) and (3), MAP, and WATCH VIDEO. 回