🇹🇭 THAILEX VDO Wat Phrathat Chomsak

Wat Phrathat Chomsak (วัดพระธาตุจอมสัก) is a Buddhist hilltop temple on the outskirts of the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai (เชียงราย), overlooking the rice paddies of the district or tambon (ตำบล) of Ban Duh (บ้านดู่). At its foot there is a statue of Mae Phra Thoranee (แม่พระธรณี), the mother or goddess of the earth, who appears as a witness of the Buddha's accumulated merits from earlier lives, just before the moment of his Enlightenment, and here depicted wringing water from her long black hair, thus aiding Siddhartha (सिद्धार्थ), i.e. the bodhisattva (बोधसत्त्व) or Buddha-to-be, in his resistance against Mara (มาร), i.e. the Evil One, by flushing his army of spirits away and saving the Buddha from the temptation of desire. A triple staircase, flanked by four nagamakara (नागमकर) balustrades, leads to a platform at the summit, as well as to an entrance of the temple. Located outside the temple's surrounding outer wall and also overlooking the valley below are two statues of senior monks, namely Kruh Bah Khamlah Sangwaroh (ครูบาคําหล้า สังวโร) and Kruh Bah Inthah Suthontoh (ครูบาอินถา สุทนฺโต). The ceiling of a sala (ศาลา)-like edifice in front of the temple's main stupa is decorated with paintings depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha, whereas the ceiling of the pitched roof at the front features some religious drawings with geometric and magical diagrams called yantra (यन्त्र), with written texts in ancient script, some depictions of deities, as well as of animals, some of which also appear on vertical thong kathin banners (ธงกฐิน), such as a turtle, which is known as tao (เต่า) and that represents consciousness; a fish which is called matcha (มัจฉา) and symbolizes doubt; a centipede, in Thai called takaab (ตะขาบ), which symbolizes anger; and a crocodile, known in Thai as jorakae (ธงจระเข้), with lotus flowers in its mouth and representing greed. In the top corners on either side of this ceiling is, on the left, a depiction of a peacock and, on the right, a rabbit, which in its own right are symbols of the moon and the sun, but when depicted together stand symbol for Enlightenment, akin to the Chinese characters for sun and moon, i.e. ri (日) and yue (月), that when placed together as ming (明), become to mean ‘bright’, ‘clear’, or ‘to understand’.
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