Ubosot and Scripture Hall Wat Na Phra That

Location: Moo 1, Tumbon Taku, Amphur Pak Thong Chai, Nakorn Ratchasima

Occupant: Wat Na Phra That

Year established: 1787

Wat Na Phra That or Wat Taku is an ancient temple in the Pak Thong Chai district. It was built in 1787, in the era of King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I). According to legend, people migrated from Wiang Chan in the reign of King Taksin. While villagers had cleaned up the land for agricultural purposes, they found the Buddha relic in the forest. So they wrote a letter to the monks demanding for a temple to be built in the community. The temple later wwas named “Na Phra That”. People set their houses closer to the temple. In the past, this location was full of the Taku trees, so the trees name was used to call the sub-district, Tumbon Taku.

The original ubosot is situated beside the new ubosot. The building has a curved base characteristic. The roof has an elongated carved apex of the gable (chofa), a bai raka (to represent the scales or spines of nagas) and a hang hongse (Swan’s tail). This architecture is similar to the popular royal architecture in the reign of King Rama III. The interior decorations of the ubosot depict the complete history of Buddha with various images, such as the chadok, Phra Bod, the Buddha footprint worship, funeral and Phra Malai. In the past, the exterior of the ubosot had mural paintings. Today, they can be seen only above the front entrance.

The Scripture or Dharma Hall is located in the front of the ubosot, surrounded by the pool. It is a high raised building with the architecture of a traditional Thai house with a gable roof. It has a carved wooden partition wall. The entrance door is decorated with gliding paintings about Buddha’s history, Thep Chumnum, Pum Kao Bin Kan Yang and Phra Mae Torance, they images of Thep Chumnum and Dok Mai Ruang. Today this scripture hall is no longer used for its intended purpose.

Wat Pratu Pha Scripture Hall

Location: 95 Moo4, Ban Pratu Pha, Amphur Muang, Lamphun

Occupant: Wat Pratu Pha

Year established: 1894

Wat Pratu Pha (Pha Mamuang Chum Huang Wiang Lha Poon) is a temple of the Maha Nikaya sect. It was established in 1758 by nobles of the city f Nakhon Haripunchai (today in Lumphun province). People from Muang Yong in the village of Pratu Pha migrated to Pak Lum Muang  Daeng in the town of Wiang Lha Poon. They built the temple and asked Phra Kruba Lhek to be the abbot. The villagers cooperated in planting hundreds of mango trees around the temple (as a food supply) and to remind them of the first move to a new location. They named the temple after their original temple, but when the mango trees grew they renamed it “Pratu Pha”, “Pha Muang Chum Huang Wiang Lha Poon”, or “ Pha Ma Muang Luang”.

The Scripture or Dharma Hall of Wat Pratu Pha was built in 1894 in the period of the fourth abbot, Kruba Ariya. The hall was built by the skilled Yong people. It is a teak wood building with a high raised basement, and a path to walk around the chamber upstairs. This hall has only one entrance door. The door and walls were painted in peacocks or devas. The wooden eave brackets and tympanum have animal, flower and plant details carved into them together with the “Ang Wah” mirror decoration. Clay tiles were installed on the roof, and the ridge of the roof is made from zinc. Inside the hall, the platform is raised. The Dharma scriptures are kept inside the hall and are made from plam leaves with the written texts of sermons inscribed in Lanna characters. Each Dharma box has a different decoration, for example, the floral lacquer and gilding, or the plaster casting with the glass decoration. Some of them are decorated with images of elephants, horses and bees.