Wat Pa Pradu

Hello all,

The adventures in Thailand continue!!! My latest adventure was actually by mistake, well not really, I just did not know that I was going to this particular Temple (Wat).  One of my co-workers invited me to Temple with her and her family on last Saturday.  Getting up at 9am on a Saturday was not in the plans but I am visiting someone else's country, so I had to agree.  So, they picked me up around 10am and we headed to the Temple.  Once we arrived I was soooo excited!! The previous day one of my co-worker's was telling me about a temple with a reclining Buddha.  There are plenty of Temples with reclining Buddha's in Thailand, but the Buddha's are reclining on their right side.  The Buddha at this Temple, is reclining on it's left side.  Imagine my excitement when we pulled up!!!

The Temple, Wat Pa Pradu is located in Rayong which is about 15 minutes from my apartment.  Wat Pa Pradu was built during the Ayutthaya Period and has been renovated and reopened to the public.  The reclining Buddha measures 11.95 meters in length and 3.60 meters in height.  

I did participate in the traditional Buddhist ceremony, which is very informal.  So, we purchased flowers and 3 sticks when we first arrived at the Temple.  We lit the sticks, they kind of reminded me of sparklers, and placed them in a container with other sticks like it.  After that, we kneeled down and said a prayer.  Then we went into the room where the Buddha was and place gold flakes on different parts of the Buddha.  I placed my gold flakes on the mouth, the head (for brain power) and the feet (for safe travel).  It was the birthday of my husband's co-worker and we went to a seperate section of the Temple to participate in another activity. We went into a small room where he purchased a pre-packaged basket with goodies and a robe for the monk.  Once we entered the room, we had to wait our turn, and the monk chanted and we repeated the chant (kind of like devotion in the Baptist Church) and then prayed over us.  This concluded my trip to the Temple and I learned a lot from this experience.

Here are some pics from the Temple!!!

Always learning,

Charmel