Description
Wat Suphat Chaiyaram (วัดสุปัฏชัยยาราม) is located about 5 kilometers from Wat Tham Pha Daen. It's only about 50 meters before the right turn you take off of Highway 2339 to get on the road that takes you to Wat Tham Pha Daen, which is one of Sakon Nakhon's most popular tourist attractions due to its large Buddhist statues, rock sculptures, and stunning views of the province.
Strangely, if you look up Wat Suphat Chaiyaram on Google Maps, you won't see accurate photos of the temple but rather photos of Wat Tham Pha Daen. Perhaps one reason for this is that it is a new temple, and hasn't yet had many visitors from who uploaded photos to Google Maps. However, we do have photos, which show some rather unusual statues of the Buddha that make this a Sakon Nakhon temple worth visiting.
One striking sculpture is a "Fat Buddha Statue" of the legendary monk known as is Phra Sangkachai. You can tell that this statue is of Phra Sangkachai rather than Budai (the famous fat laughing monk) because his hands are placed upon his bulging stomach. As you can see in this statue, Phra Sangkachai is often depicted as being fatter than Budai is usually depicted. He is a figure of abundance and is sometimes referred to as the "Wealth Buddha".
At Wat Suphat Chaiyaram, there are also a couple statues of the Buddha which look quite like a woman, with the robe appearing like a dress, a feminine looking chest area, and elongated ears that seem as though they were attached as earrings. We have never seen anything quite like it before. You can also view a number of other statues of the Buddha, such as a Reclining Buddha and Buddha with umbrella and walking stick (which again are quite unique in their depictions).
