Wat Tung Si Muang, Ubon Ratchathani

    Ubon Ratchathani is just the right distance from Phana to make a good day out. It takes about 45 minutes to drive there, about an hour on the songthaew bus which stops frequently on the way. Mostly these days I go to Ubon for shopping at Big C or Tesco Lotus: there are a few things I can’t do without, such as cereal for breakfast. But I often spend time ‘browsing’ in wats and Wat Tung Si Muang in Ubon is one of my favourites, partly because it isn’t usually very busy but it does have two outstanding features.

 

 

 

    The feature that is made the most of in Tourist Authority literature is the Hor Trai or scripture library. It is more than 150 years old but very well preserved, standing on about twenty stout wooden pillars in a small pond. For several years the scriptures, narrow palm-leaf accordion-shaped books, could be handled because they lay in drawers and cupboards inside the building. But recently they have been removed, hopefully for safer keeping. The hor trai building itself is a mixture of Thai, Burmese and Lao styles. The multiple overlapping roofs reflect the Burmese influence while the carvings over the two gables are Lao, illustrating different animal signs according to traditional astrology as well as various designs based on plant life.

 

 

 

    Less often promoted but in some ways more interesting are the murals in the ubosot. These date from the mid-nineteenth century and as with most wat murals they offer an insight into life at that time as well as illustrating some of the Jataka stories. The murals have not been restored (luckily, I think) so some of them are very faded and some even partially degraded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    There is also a replica of the Buddha’s footprint which was brought from Bangkok during the reign of Rama III.

 

    The ubosot, which is very small, has recently been renovated and repainted on the outside. This picture was taken shortly before the work was completed.

    Wat Tung Si Muang is also home to a school for novices. There are more than 200 students at the school which comprises three years of secondary school and three years of high school. Students come from provinces throughout the northeast and follow a curriculum which mirrors that in ordinary schools but with the added emphasis on Buddhist studies. At the end of the six years, students can either return to lay life, perhaps entering a secular university, or continue their studies at a branch of one or other of the two Buddhist Universities. Ubon and Warin Chamrap have branches of these universities.

 

 

 

 

    Walking around Ubon in the late afternoon and early evening you are likely to come across groups of young novices. Many of them seem to enjoy spending time playing games in the internet and games cafes and making calls on their mobile phones. It is easy to feel critical of this behaviour, seeing it as being unworthy of monks, but it must be remembered that these are NOT monks, they are schoolboys. And while they have obviously not given up all the pursuits that schoolboys enjoy, they have taken on a considerable number of duties and responsibilities that most schoolboys do not, as well as living away from their families, often far away. They should be seen positively, I think, as schoolboys with added value rather than as deficient in some way. They are just learning about the monastic life, after all, and may quite legitimately find it does not suit them.

 

 

Comments

[Martyn]

An interesting read and I for one didn't realize that Thailand had schools that catered specifically for training young monks, a kind of western world apprenticeship. Young prospective monks playing computer games...the world and commercialism bites deep into even the most protected of establishments, and why not. The murals from around the mid 1850's are certainly worth a look and from your photos you can see the emphasis on respect, music and culture. Thailand must have been an amazing place back in those days, I've always had an interest in the past and Thailand in those days, country life mostly so, would have been an eye opener and a lesson in life for even the hardest of souls. Thanks for the read.