A once-popular Buddhist temple in Nakhon Sawan has been left abandoned and overgrown for almost a year after its former abbot and monks left to start families.
A worship site of Wat Khao Phranikorn Pathumrak in Nakhon Sawan is covered wth grass and shrubs. (Photo by Chalit Pumruang)
Wat Khao Phranikorn Pathumrak, located in the mountainous Khao Phra area tambon Nongklab in Nong Bua district, has taken on a far-different look than it did before Buddhist Lent last spring.
The temple hall and worship sites now are covered with grass and shrubs. Old saffron robes and the monks' belongings are scattered around the temple grounds, which were left uncared for until a monk from another area recently arrived to guard temple property.
Phra Sawong Chanthawaso told the Bangkok Post that he had been assigned by the Nongklab tambon chief monk in mid-December to watch over the temple, as there had been no one there for some time. He learned that the former abbot had left the monkhood to get married.
Located in a remote area a small community with only 10 households, the hilltop temple got only a few invitations to perform religious rites outside temple grounds. Many monks thus moved to other temples nearer densely populated communities, said the attending monk.
Renovation also is needed to restore the temple's glory, he said. Several buildings have fallen into a dilapidated state. Water and electricity, which had been cut off, recently were restored. But the caretaker monk still must walk seven kilometres to downtown Nong Bua district to collect alms.
In the past, Wat Khao Phranikorn Pathumrak drew many Buddhists to make merit and feed monkeys, which numbered at least 1,000. After the temple was abandoned, the number of merit-makers dropped and most the monkeys left for other areas.
Krai Srisa-ngiem, 66, a local resident, said the temple was deserted prior to the start of Buddhist Lent last year after the abbot and some monks left the monkhood to start families. Other monks moved to temples in downtown areas, forcing residents to fivit other temples to make merit, said Mr Krai.
A Buddhist monk from another temple is sent to guard the deserted temple.( Photo by Chalit Rumruang)