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Religion is very important in both the Thai and the Isaan people's respective lives. It is estimated that 97 percent of Thailand's population are Buddhists, and this is very evident when you go to temples in smaller cities and towns around Thailand where it seems that every man and his dog is in attendance. So it is absolutely no surprise that some of the most impressive monuments in Thailand have religious significance. For the Pa Nam Yoi Temple there definitely is absolutely no exception, it is one of the largest monuments in size and grandeur that has been produced in Isaan country. The sheer size is massive to the point where they actually need mobility vehicles for those who desire or need it to get the visitors from the gate way to the temple itself.
Outside the gate is almost a shanty town of touristic stores which all seem to full of visitors from the local schools or from people from around Thailand and/or Asia. Other than my father the whole time we saw no other Farang. As well as the visitor's Guest book that people can choose to sign, well according to that piece of literature it
seems that very few people come from outside of Asian. You could have literally counted the number on your hands, that was including my father and myself. But in some strange way that actually made it seem that much more special and amazing. Unlike many of the locals, we both decide to walk from the entrance gate to the temple along what I dubbed as the great wall of Thailand. It was similar in looks to the famous great wall, and it does offer a wonderful panoramic view of the superb countryside below the massive hill it is situated on. It is a view that typifies South East Asia for me, with wonderful rice paddy field, small undulating hills full of small homesteads and lingering fog/smog still in the air. It was a great sight to see and a nice introduction to the day.
After a small walk on the inside of the wall, we eventually reach the entrance gate to the temple, which is massive and looked to painstakingly decorated. Such intricacies and beauty with every tiny little detail, whether it be etched or sculpted onto the entrance point. But the most fascinating and impressive thing
was the symmetry of the twin dragons that guard the entrance. Such large and beautifully detailed even down to the scales that bejewel the well crafted body of the ever impressive dragons. So we enter through the large passage way and seeing as my father has been there before and I haven't I stand there with a slacken jaw in disbelief. This temple is absolutely stunning. A real tribute to the dedication and a triumph to human kind. To put it simply this Temple was nothing less than amazing. It was well worth the time spent in the car, even though it really wasn't that long from Loeng Nok Tha.
There stands this massive temple right in the middle of an impressive court yard that is a kin to Versailles. Well that was my initial thought about this place, it seemed very similar to one of the most recognisable places in the world. The court yard is very well maintained, the hedges are almost perfectly trimmed, the lawn is lush and green and Kermit the frog, the tiles and the golden framework of the courtyard water features have been beautifully polished and are getting filled with water
as I am walking past. Having to remove our shows as we enter into the temple, we walk up marble steps in bare sweaty feet, which made it quite slippery at times, but after several steps I walk through the door and enter into the main room of the temple/monastery and it was glorious. There was huge golden statues and wall decorations, not to mention the detailed wall paper that decorated the walls, but golden skirting boards and other small features. It was truly special to get to see the inside, but inside there was something I was not expecting. You don't see this kind of divide as much in the present as you would have in the past, but this was one of the only times in my life I got to experience the social divide of women and men. It was with a prayer section to a statue Buddha. Women are restricted to behind these golden structures, whilst men are allowed to venture right up to the statute and pray. I want to say that I don't agree with this kind of segregation and it is a complete shame to see this still exists in the world, especially
at a place that holds importance to many people in the North-East of Thailand. Fortunately this was the only damper on an otherwise fantastic day.
After getting to experience the majesty of the main room I decided to head up stairs to another point of worship. It involved many flight of what can only be described as step, step stairs, which I believe was equally as hard as running or cycling up Mont Ventoux. I am sure there will be plenty of cyclists who will disagree, but I have done both and you haven't so quiet down and keep reading. After what seemed like a thousand stairs, I reached what was a basic circular floor in the dome on top of the temple. The walls inside the dome were painted sky blue and there was a large golden spire set in the middle of the floor, with flowers and rugs placed around it with many people including Monks praying on the matting. Two things I have now got knowledge about thanks to observing the monks in the temple. Firstly, when a monk is going down or up stairs and you are in their way as a sign
of respect you move as they always have the right of way. The second thing and the thing I found really unusual was that the Monks had embraced technology. In fact there was one monk who was on his iPhone who was more interested in replying to a message or taking a photo than anything. Not exactly something you expect to see, but something that I still remember as clear as day.
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