A Visit to a Buddhist Temple Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen (03 December - 21 December 2022)

Reported by: Grace and Upama

A visit to a Buddhist temple is a chance for a new experience and to expand personal cultural horizons. Therefore, this winter vacation, both of us went to visit Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen together. Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen is a royal monastery located in the Phasi Charoen district, on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It is a large and popular temple, supported by many monks. It is part of the Maha Nikaya fraternity and is the origin of the Dhammakaya tradition. We arrived at the temple on the morning of 3 December 2022. The open yard with a few rows of trees surrounding the temple gave it a secluded feel, even though the temple is situated on a busy main street in Bangkok.
As Wat Paknam is one of the biggest temples in Thailand (Photo 1), we spent all the days of our vacation exploring different parts of the temple. The places are as follows

  • Dhamma Hall

    • Wat Paknam is known for its philanthropy and a national program to spread the Five Precepts in Thai society. The temple is also popular among the maechee.

  • Giant Buddha statue

    • After going through the Dhamma hall, the Buddha statue is directly on your right hand. This Buddha statue is called Phra Buddha Dhammakaya Thepmongkhon.

  • Stupa and Museum

    • Behind the Buddha statue, we are astonished by a very solemn and sacred place. Oh, it's a white tower. During the day, it shows the holy purity under the sunlight, and it is even more beautiful at night exuding seven colourful lights. In 2012, Somdet Chuang completed this huge stupa inside the temple called "Maharatchamongkhon", which is decorated with Buddhist art. It contains a total of 5 floors, 3 of which are museums; especially on the top is a delicate green pagoda most likely made of vaidūrya, and the sculpture on the top tells the story of 28 Buddhas. The museum housed a variety of interesting artefacts that have been donated to the temple.

  • Dana function

    • Luckily, we got a chance to attend one Dana ceremony. Everyone was very serious and respectful, and the monks of the temple lined up very early to prepare for this event. There are also many lay family members who come here especially to make offerings. Flowers, candles and incense burning in front of the Buddha with the most beautiful wishes. The service opened up with one and a half hours of Dāna ceremony.
    Furthermore, the monastery is well known for its good meditation teachings (Dhammakaya meditation) for monks and lay people, and the monks in the monastery also spend a lot of time in meditation. Also, the temple is trying to keep the tradition of Luang Pu Sodh alive. As in the days of Luang Pu Sodh, there is still an evening meditation during which practitioners listen to Luang Pu Sodh tapes. We must say this has been one enjoyable educational tour and we look forward to visiting such places again.