Description
Wat Phon Tham (วัดโพนธรรม) translates to The High Ground Temple of the Dharma. While the temple isn't actually built on a hilltop, it is located in a Phu Phan Mountain valley of the Phanna Nikhom district in Sakon Nakhon. And it's less than 30 minutes from the beautiful mountain temple Wat Khao Tham Phra, with its gruesome "hall of karma," which makes it one of Thailand's hell temples. That is, temples which depict the fate of sinners who ignore the teachings of the Buddha and follow the path of evil.
Wat Phon Tham is a classic small village temple in Northeast Thailand. There are no huge statues of the Buddha here, or Hindu statues of Ganesha or Shiva. There are no bas-relief Thai murals or large paintings depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha. There is only a vintage wooden pavilion (viharn), beautifully situated under the canopy of a large sacred tree, in the center of attentively cared for temple grounds.
Beneath the shade of another large tree is a simple pagoda sheltering a medium-sized statue of the Buddha created in Issan folk style. On the base of the statue are the letters and numbers: พศ 2532. The Thai letters พศ are an abbreviation of the word "Putta Sakarat" (พุทธศักราช), which means the Buddhist Era.
So, if we follow the instructions laid down in our post "What Year is it in Thailand?" we'll know that the "พศ 2532" date on the statue means that this Buddha was built in 1989.
Small Thai village temples like Wat Phon Tham often only have one resident monk. We only saw one "kuti" (monk's quarters) on the temple grounds, so it's likely only one monk is living at this charming, little temple, which has a small neighboring temple just down the road named Wat Pho Si Kaeo.
