Description
The history of Wat Pho Si Wararam (วัดโพธิ์ศรีวราราม) stretches back to 1862, when the temple was built around a Bodhi tree near the entrance of the local school. At that time the temple was named Wat Ban Nong Makluea (วัดบ้านหนองมะเกลือ), and to this day the villagers informally call the temple Wat Nong Makluea.
In 1872, Phra Ajarn Kanha (พระอาจารย์กัณหา) moved the temple to its current site, and in later years the temple's name was eventually changed to Wat Pho Si Wararam.
As you enter the temple grounds you'll see a large gold Buddha statue which local villagers regularly visit to make merit. Beside the Buddha statue is a bronze statue of Phra Khru Pothiwarakorn (พระครูโพธิวรากร), a former abbot of the temple during the mid 20th century.
Wat Pho Si Wararam has a beautiful white Ubosot in the center of the temple grounds, and there is an old wooden Viharn (Sermon Hall) with sacred objects and ancient scripture bookcases that where built before 1872 and brought from Laos. These bookcases contain palm leaf books, Isan texts, and Khmer texts.
Nearby temples worth visiting are Wat Pa Burapharam, with its statue of the Buddha made in Myanmar, and Wat Pa Dong Chon with its pagoda museum honoring the life of Phra Khru Khanti Thammarak (พระครูขันติธรรมารักษ์).
