The half-buried Buddha
Rising from the earth.
กสิณธร ราชโอรส — CC BY-SA 4.0 · กสิณธร ราชโอรส — CC BY-SA 4.0 · กสิณธร ราชโอรส — CC BY-SA 4.0 · กสิณธร ราชโอรส — CC BY-SA 4.0
An old temple in Thalang in northern Phuket, famous for a golden Buddha of which only the upper half shows, as if rising from the ground. Legend says a boy tied his buffalo to a point sticking out of the earth, then he and the animal fell ill; his family dreamt it was the top of a buried statue, and when people dug around it they found the Buddha's head and chest. The story goes that Burmese soldiers tried to pull the statue out during their invasion of Phuket in the late eighteenth century, hoping for gold, but swarms of hornets attacked them and they gave up. Since then it has stayed in place; a prayer hall was built around it and it was covered in gold. The temple has a small museum of old tools from island life. Entry is free and donations are welcome. Modest dress is expected: shoulders and knees covered, and shoes off inside the halls. It is quiet, with few visitors compared with Wat Chalong. It lies on the road between the airport and Phuket town, a handy short stop, and pairs with the nearby Thalang National Museum and the Heroines Monument.
Rising from the earth.
That drove off invaders.
Of island life.
Thalang district, northern Phuket
Legend says it was found buried and every attempt to dig it out failed, so the hall was built around it as it is.