Luang Pho Sethi Nawakoht (หลวงพ่อเศรษฐีนวโกฏิ)

Thai-Pali-Sanskrit. ‘Revered Father Ninety Million Millionaire’. Name of a style of Buddha image seated in the pahng samahti ‘meditation pose’ (fig.) and depicted with multiple heads, and of which it is believed to enhance richness to those who worship it, akin to Cai Shen ‘Chinese wealth gods’. According to a Lan Na legend, during a severe famine sometime in the past, when the people were suffering a lot, a prosperous monk suggested to make the Luang Pho Sethi Nawakoht image, in order for the people to worship and sacrifice to it. After this had been accomplished successfully, it seemed that in a miraculous way the famine subsided and eventually halted, taking all the problems and misery away. Hence, the Lan Na people made it their motto saying that anyone who worships the Luang Pho Sethi Nawakoht image will find prosperity and good fortune. Whereas the Thai-Pali-Sanskrit word nawa (นว) means both ‘nine’ and ‘new’, the Thai word koht (โกฏิ) is a tally unit of measure equal to ‘ten million’. See also nine, as well as the otherwise unrelated synonym koht, with a slightly different spelling in Thai. See also Jambhala, Kubera, Phra Sangkatjaai, and mongoose. 回