Having spent over a week confined to the house with the worst cold I've had for years I was desperate just to get on the bike and get out of the bedroom. I haven't got too many choices from my village, its either east on the 1089, south on the 3037 or the 107 highway to Chiang Dao. Not being sure I was fit for a long journey I chose to revisit a giant temple I came across a year ago on a days riding through previously unvisited road. The route is the 1089 to Mae Chan, then the 1016 toward Chiang Saen, turning right onto the 1098 heading for Doi Luang. The official name of this temple is Wat Muen Puttha Metta Khunaram (which is even spelt differently on the entrance) and is described on a few sites found on Google.
Despite the clear and sunny weather forecast is was a grey day so the pictures lack some sun but are at least not full of heavy shadows. The short ride was a little cool, the sky grey and overcast and on my arrival I even suspected it would rain. The temple complex is huge and there appears to be no understand of the concept Enough. There are big assembly halls, what look like accommodations and several new building still under, or in fact just started, construction that could house 5000 monks with ease. The place is far bigger than a Premier League football stadium and by parking at the gate and walking up all the steps to the main statue I got my first real exercise for the month. This from an official site;
Wat Muen Phuttha Metta Khunaram (sometimes spelled Wat Muen Buddha Metta Khunaram ) was founded in 1993 by the chief abbot of Wat Pho Maen Khunaram (วัดโพธิ์แมนคุณาราม), in Bangkok. Like its cousin in the capital, Wat Muen Phuttha Metta Khunaram is of Mahayana obedience, unlike the vast majority of monasteries in the kingdom which follow the orthodox doctrine, the so-called Theravada current. This specific practice of Buddhism and the Chinese influence can be seen through the artistic style of the statues, the ubiquitous Chinese characters and the enclosure door.
Wat Muen Phuttha Metta Khunaram can be translated as Monastery of the Ten Thousand Compassionate Buddhas . It is not ten thousand Buddhas that we see in the distance, but a huge, paunchy and jovial character named Budaï, seen in Chinese Buddhism as a representation of Maitreya, the Buddha who will come in the future.
Measuring 19 meters high without taking into account its base, this statue is the largest representation of Budaï/Maitreya in Thailand. A staircase decorated with stone sculptures allows you to approach it as closely as possible.
That picture from the top gives some idea of the size of the place and its style. What is quite noticeable on a visit is the quality of the materials used with some pretty expensive stone, marble and carved friezes in quite subtle colours compared with many Thai temples in bright reds and golds. Walking around I found no information on the place at all but a search on internet will maybe discover who or what country is donating the massive amounts this is requiring.
And its nowhere near finished, with back hoes, tractors and piledrivers still on site, an army of workers all in a blue shirt with the temples logo they are repairing soil wash-out that must have occurred in the storms and moving on into the compound edges to add more buildings and more garden.
If you are like me, just an interested traveller and of no practising religion, you may not want to go miles out of your way to see this site but if you happen to be in the district its well worth a stop just for its size and structure. Someone must have done an awful lot of bad to think that building this will balance out his Karma.
Wat Muen Phuttha Metta Khunaram (sometimes spelled Wat Muen Buddha Metta Khunaram ) was founded in 1993 by the chief abbot of Wat Pho Maen Khunaram (วัดโพธิ์แมนคุณาราม), in Bangkok. Like its cousin in the capital, Wat Muen Phuttha Metta Khunaram is of Mahayana obedience, unlike the vast majority of monasteries in the kingdom which follow the orthodox doctrine, the so-called Theravada current. This specific practice of Buddhism and the Chinese influence can be seen through the artistic style of the statues, the ubiquitous Chinese characters and the enclosure door.
Wat Muen Phuttha Metta Khunaram can be translated as Monastery of the Ten Thousand Compassionate Buddhas . It is not ten thousand Buddhas that we see in the distance, but a huge, paunchy and jovial character named Budaï, seen in Chinese Buddhism as a representation of Maitreya, the Buddha who will come in the future.
Measuring 19 meters high without taking into account its base, this statue is the largest representation of Budaï/Maitreya in Thailand. A staircase decorated with stone sculptures allows you to approach it as closely as possible.
That picture from the top gives some idea of the size of the place and its style. What is quite noticeable on a visit is the quality of the materials used with some pretty expensive stone, marble and carved friezes in quite subtle colours compared with many Thai temples in bright reds and golds. Walking around I found no information on the place at all but a search on internet will maybe discover who or what country is donating the massive amounts this is requiring.
And its nowhere near finished, with back hoes, tractors and piledrivers still on site, an army of workers all in a blue shirt with the temples logo they are repairing soil wash-out that must have occurred in the storms and moving on into the compound edges to add more buildings and more garden.
If you are like me, just an interested traveller and of no practising religion, you may not want to go miles out of your way to see this site but if you happen to be in the district its well worth a stop just for its size and structure. Someone must have done an awful lot of bad to think that building this will balance out his Karma.
