Description
Wat Suwan Thadaram (วัดสุวรรณธาดาราม) is a small village temple, only 2 kilometers away from the Satit Ket Kaew Udom Dharma Practice Center. The small forested grounds are well tended to, with the dirt floor beneath the trees beautifully swept, as is the custom at so many Sakon Nakhon temples — the sweeping preventing any weeds or grasses from growing, and providing tidy paths to walk around amidst the trees.
There is a pavilion with 4 Buddha statues, with a red carpet in front, where local Buddhists make merit. The two outer statues are the Calling to Earth Buddha, when the Buddha called up the Earth Goddess (Phra Mae Thoranee) to dispatch the demon Mara and his minions, while he sought enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. The two inner Buddha statues are the Serenity or Meditation Buddha. While the poses are the same, each Buddha statue has slightly different features, as all sculptures are made by hand and not cast molds.
Wat Suwan Thadaram's monk residences are unusually modern looking, with blue roofs and cement walls. In front of the residences (called Kutis) is a quite lovely sculpture of a gold Buddha, again in the Meditation pose, with a tiny "Fat Buddha" statue of Phra Sangkachai, the legendary fat monk who grants prosperity and abundant harvests to farmers.
