I had a completely wonderful time in Samoa, both because it in an incredible place and because it was delightful to spend time with Maria. I'll write all about it at some point, but I'm going to finish writing about Thailand first. I'm risking letting it go so long that I don't remember things very clearly, but just looking through the pictures to choose some for this post reminded me of how many stunningly beautiful things we saw there, so here we go!
There are amazing temples all around Thailand (or at least everywhere we went). I don't know enough to go into the details of the specific focus or purpose of each one, but I will share our experiences.
First up: Spirit Houses
Perhaps not technically temples, but I decided that they fit in this post. Most houses we saw have one, and although size and complexity vary, they all looked very well maintained. They are places/monuments dedicated to honouring your ancestors. This seems to be a very strong value in Thai culture, and I think this is a beautiful representation of it.
Next: Wat Phra That Doi Kham (Temple of the Golden Mountain)
Unfortunately, J wasn't feeling well that afternoon and needed to rest at the hotel, but I went with Nok and part of our tour group all the way up into the mountains to visit this amazing temple. As is true with most temples in Thailand, shoulders and knees need to be covered, and skirts are preferred for women. They make some kind allowances for tourists, but I also try to be respectful. The "temple" includes what feels like a whole village, with many small shrines, statues, and sub-temples. This golden tower behind me is what everything else is centered around.
I thought it looked particularly beautiful from down lower, coming up out of the trees. It was cloudy that day, for which we were all thankful, as it wasn't quite so very hot.
While we were there, the monks who live there came out and chanted and prayed. I was worried that the tourists (of which there were many) might be disruptive, but everyone was quite respectful.
This is the building in front of which the monks prayed, and where we went to receive a special blessing from a monk. Monks do not touch women, so he had an assistant who tied the symbolic bracelet around our wrists.
This is on the inside of that building.
My favourite part of this temple experience (and one of my favourites in Thailand) was the bell that Nok bought for our group. She wrote all of our names on it...
... so that our group was all represented.
Then Jona (being the only one tall enough to reach) hung it up in the temple. When the wind blows and rings it, that is believed to bring us all good luck. Also, when they decide to make a new bronze Buddha, they melt down all the bells currently hanging there, so our bell will be "reincarnated" as a Buddha! I love representations of the inter-connectivity of life, and I find this one particularly touching as our little group is represented as a unit in a place where we had such a special time together. Thanks, Nok, for doing that with and for us!
Another highlight was this amazing carved mural. If you zoom in, you'll see all kinds of wonderful picture storytelling.
My favourite part were the images of sacred relics being moved on elephant back. (Elephants don't do work like that anymore, which is good, but I'm hoping that the sacred ones who moved relics were always treated kindly).
Also, we had a good laugh about this statue and why it was labeled "MOM" of all things!
We learned that there is a representation of Buddha for every day of the week, and each person has one, based on the day they were born. I was born on a Wednesday, so this is my Buddha - the Receiving Buddha. Also, each day has a colour, and mine is green, which is fun because that's my favourite colour!
J was born on a Tuesday, so his is the Reclining Buddha. I thought that was completely perfect, as J prides himself on his ability to lay around all day, and sleeping is high on his list of preferred activities. (Unsurprisingly, this representation of Buddha does not, in fact, celebrate sloth, but I still think it's funny). I thought that we learned that his colour was pink, but I may have remembered wrong, as I'm now finding yellow listed online.
If you'd like to read the stories of the Buddhas (and find out what your one is), please click here.
One day, we went on a cycle tour of some small villages near our homestay, and out in the country somewhere (thank goodness we weren't in charge of navigation) was this beautiful temple!
We learned later that there is a story that Lord Buddha wanted to come down to the earth plane, so two dragons made stairs out of their bodies for him, and that's why there are often dragons running down the sides of stairs leading up to temples.
As usual, the architecture was stunning! Only men were allowed inside, so I can only guess at how beautiful it was in there. J went in, but when asked about it, only managed "nice" in terms of descriptions. In his defense, it was a million degrees outside, and he was in the process (we found out that night) of breaking out in a major heat rash. So I'll let him off the hook this time.
In case you haven't noticed, Thailand is really, really good at statues. You can read about the nine-headed snakes, called Naga, (which we saw often) by clicking here.
I noticed this temple near our hotel in Chiang Mai. I don't know anything about it, but isn't it beautiful?
Ditto with this one. It's amazing to be strolling along the street and suddenly come upon something like this!
We did a Riverboat Cruise (separate from our Intrepid Tour with Nok) one day, and were taken to this beautiful temple.
On the side of the building was an incredible stone carving, of which this is only a small piece. But remember the dragon stairs? Well, here they are, with Buddha walking down them. The carving depicted the three planes, with the enlightened plane up high, the earth plane in the middle, and hell (not sure if there's a different word, but I couldn't find one) at the bottom.
Regardless of what it's called, doesn't look like a fun place, does it?
We went inside the temple and got a blessing from a monk again. It is such a peaceful and affirming experience.
At this one, we learned that water is often used to represent the connection between the spirit world (ancestors as well as gods, if I understand correctly). Sometimes you pass over a river or moat to get to a temple, as a way to make that connection and purify yourself. In this case, we poured the water into the bowl as the monks said the blessing, and then afterwards, we used it to water a tree, therefore also making a connection with the natural world. I think that our guide also said that trees are connected to our ancestors, although I found her more difficult to understand, so I'm not sure. But the whole process was very beautiful and again, I love opportunities to see/represent the way the universe is all connected, so this was very special.
I could go on and on, but that's a bit of a taster of our temple experiences. I think I'll do one more post about all the things that didn't fit into any of my categories, and then move on to the next adventures!
