The golden stupa
Modelled on Bodh Gaya.
Bundit Sincharoen — CC BY 3.0 · Bundit Sincharoen — CC BY 3.0 · Bundit Sincharoen — CC BY 3.0 · Bundit Sincharoen — CC BY 3.0 · Pinochet68 — CC BY 3.0
The most important temple of the Mon people in Thailand, on a hill in the Mon village west of Sangkhla Buri's bridge, founded by the monk Uttama, who came from Burma in 1949, became the Mon's spiritual leader and died in 2006 at about a hundred. The temple was moved to its present site when the dam's waters drowned the old one. Its landmark is the huge golden stupa built on the model of the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya in India, ringed by white guardian lions in Burmese style, with halls decorated in gold and coloured glass. The temple keeps the embalmed body of the monk Uttama in a glass coffin, visited by Mon and Thai people from far away for blessings. Entry is free and it is open all day. Modest dress is expected: shoulders and knees covered. Shoes come off in the halls, and quiet is asked for in the monk's hall. Walk there from the Mon Bridge in about twenty minutes through the Mon village, or take a small taxi. Behind the temple a small market sells Burmese goods, crafts and fabric.
Modelled on Bodh Gaya.
Founder and Mon leader.
Crafts and fabric behind the temple.
Mon village, west bank of the Khao Laem reservoir, Sangkhla Buri
A Mon monk who came from Burma in 1949, founded the temple and built the bridge with local people, and died in 2006.
