Wat Thepwanaram is the nearest temple to my house. It's adjacent to Phuket's wakeboard park and I am yet to see a wakeboarding monk. I live in hope!
When traveling around asia we have often found ourselves staying near mosques and have consequently been woken every morning by the Muezzin's call to prayer. Living by a temple you deal with something rather different. At 5:00 every morning the buddhist monks begin to pray. Their prayers are in the form of a chant on a single pedal note and overtime you begin to hear the overtones. My new alarm clock is totally free, if a little early. They pray several times throughout the day and always at sundown. I'll often be in the pool when they do their evening prayers and it is such a lovely sound to hear drifting through the air. Despite the fact that they wake me up it really is quite peaceful and calming. Far better than hearing the rush of traffic that never ends. I am somehow became accustomed to the noise of the traffic in China, but this peace is bliss.
There are many temples in Phuket and we do like to visit them. Wat Thepwanaram was the first temple that we visited. It doesn't draw big trouist crowds as it doesn't have a particularly large, diferent or special Buddha so it is often very quiet. The entrance from the main road is marked by the usual stunning arch painted white, gold, red, green and other strong bright colours. The temple is a little further back from the road than most others, but is not an enormous distance.
There are 4 decorated ornate buildings at Wat Thepwanaram as well as a the monks housing. The temples are covered in gold and bright colours that are a huge contrast to the stark white walls. The ornamentation and cratsmanship is really quite beautiful and despite the perhaps ostentatious use of colour it is not so gaudy as you might think. It is somehow peaceful.
One fascinating piece outside the prayer hall is a Madame Tussaud's likeness of a monk. We saw lots of smaller creations like this when we were in Cambodia in an art gallery where we were told that they were likenesses of deceased monks. The skill in these is absolutely incredible as they are just so life like.
The temple appears to be a haven for street dogs and cats alike. Numerous animals find shade and kindness inside the temple walls. A local vet often goes around the temples vaccinating the animals that make their home there too. We always see snoozy furry friends here.
Monks are a wonderful flash of colour around Phuket. Their orange robes stand out against all the other colours. I love to see them just living life. They aren't in a closed order so they go out and visit people and different temples. They catch the local bus or get a ride on a relatives motorbike. They are a part of the community and somehow their presence is very reassuring.
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