Description
Wat Sirithat Daram (วัดศิริทัศน์ดาราม) is on the one hand a typical village Thai temple. But like all village temples in Thailand there are always a few unusual things. At Wat Sirithat Daram there are hermit monk statues which strangely have black beards attached to them (something which we have rarely seen before). And even more unusual is a statue of what appears to be a local villager chilling out on a block — a statue with no seeming sacred value, but perhaps placed there simply to honor Thai village life.
The black (or dark brown) beards and eyebrows on the two hermit monks are likely just an aesthetic choice, as it does make the statues more striking and the beards match the dark robes the monks are wearing. But, as we mentioned, it is very unusual. The only time we have seen it before is on a couple of statues at Pu Ruesi Don Pu Ta Priest's Camp Site, a "samnak song" which has more than 100 hermit statues. The heads of the Naga serpents guarding the temple's entrance are also unique.
Wat Sirithat Daram translates to the Temple of the Glorious Star View. And it is true that the night sky from the villages of Sakon Nakhon are often quite glorious due to the lack of light pollution. The temple is located only about 2 kilometers south of Wat Nong Bua Sang in the Chiang Khruea sub-district, about 20 minutes north of the Sakon Nakhon Bus Terminal.
