Description
Wat Ban Dong Phatthana (วัดบ้านดงพัฒนา) is about 500 meters from the back-end of Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, and about 3 kilometers away from the white temple of Sri Chai Rattanakot Ashram. When you look it up on Google Maps, the photos don't suggest that there is much here to see, only an Ubosot that is under construction. But there is more here to enjoy than what is on Google.
Wat Ban Dong Phatthana has a number of interesting Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, the likes of which you won't find at other Sakon Nakhon temples. In addition to a unique Naga dragon at the front of the temple, you'll also find the Hindu mythological creature known as Makara, which (in Thailand) is depicted as a crocodile like sea animal. As is often the case with Makaras at Thai temples, it is depicted as swallowing a Naga serpent. There is also a striking statue of Khochasi, a creature that is part elephant and part lion. Makara and Khochasi are both guardians of sacred places, as is the Naga.
At Wat Ban Dong Phatthana, there are several unique statues of Singha, the guardian lion that also goes by the name Chinthe. Here the Singhas have rather unusual heads and teeth, with one being depicted in a multicolored fashion that we've never seen before. With regards to the Ubosot that is under construction, you will find a large gold Buddha image within the building, even though it is incomplete, which is typical of such unfinished structures at Sakon Nakhon temples.
