Wat Mahathat Wora Maha Wihaan (วัดมหาธาตุวรมหาวิหาร)

Thai. Name of a temple in Nakhon Sri Thammarat which is over a thousand years old, dating back to the Srivijaya period. According to legend the grand stupa or chedi of the temple (fig.) was originally built in the 6th century by King Sri Dhammasokaraja I, the first ruler of Nakhon Sri Thammarat, in order to house a tooth relic of the Buddha. In the early 13th century, King Sri Dhammasokaraja V rebuilt the stupa in the present Sri Lankan style. The main chedi, which is known as Phra Borommathat Chedi, is surrounded by 158 smaller chedis. The plong shanai, i.e. the top part of the spire (fig.), is plated with pure gold, known in Thai as thong nopphakhun, and has a total weight of 197.85 kilogram. This gold was obtained from local citizens, who donated their old jewelry which was melted and made into gold plates (fig.). The upper part of the spire is currently leaning at about 1.5 degrees towards the southeast and research has revealed that it can withstand a maximum lean of 5 degrees before it would collapse. The stupa has many spiritual aspects incorporated in its dimensions and arrangements. The height and the width of the stupa, for one, are 28 wah and 14 wah, i.e. ca. 56 meter high and 28 meter wide, measurements that in spiritual context refer to the 28 corporeality and 14 functions of consciousness in Buddhist philosophy. In addition, the stack of rings on the spire that decrease in size towards the top number 52 in total and represent the 52 Cetasika; the 22 elephants surrounding the base of the stupa symbolize the 22 phenomenological faculties of the Indriya; and the 8 thepanom-like figures (fig.) placed around the balcony-like chan atsadong (fig.), akin to thepchumnum (fig.), stand for the Eightfold Path. The temple claims to be the largest in the South of Thailand and the oldest sight in the city. The ubosot used to house one of Thailand's three identical Phra Phutta Sihing, i.e. Phra Singh Buddha images, of which the original comes from Sri Lanka. It was first imported to Sukhothai via Nakhon Sri Thammarat, and was later moved to Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya. The other two images are in the National Museum in Bangkok (map - fig.) and at Wat Phra Singh in Chiang Mai (map - fig.), all claiming to have the original one. The Nakhon Sri Thammarat Phra Singh Buddha image now stands in the Ho Phra Singh in the city's centre. The temple's main chedi is portrayed on the copper coins of 25 satang (fig.). The temple is related to the Jatukam-Ramathep amulet, as the name for this charm comes from Tao Jatukam and Tao Ramathep, the guardian gods of the holy relics of the Buddha who stand guard at the doorways at the top of the stairway leading up to the sacred relics of the stupa, inside this temple's main prayer hall, which is located in the base of the stupa and known as Wihaan Phra Songmah, after a bas-relief of the Buddha riding his horse Kanthaka. See also MAP, TRAVEL PHOTOS (1), (2) and (3), and POSTAGE STAMPS (1) and (2). 回