Description
Wat Thung Ruang Thong (วัดทุ่งรวงทอง) is a rural Thai temple in the Sakon Nakhon village of Ban Dong Khum Khao Tai. It's located about 3 kilometers south Wat Amalakaran, which is home to the largest statue of Thao Wessuwan in Thailand.
Wat Thung Ruang Thong translates to the Temple of the Golden Fields, which perhaps refers to the beautiful rice fields of this rural Isan area. The temple has a gorgeous Ubosot which is guarded by beautiful but fierce looking Singha Lions and Naga Serpents. The interior is strikingly decorated with Buddhist art and a strikingly handsome statue of the Buddha.
The congregation hall is of the simple, traditional kind typical of Sakon Nakhon village temples. What is unusual is the amount of small, gold statues of the Buddha that surround the outside of one end of the hall. Another unique aspect of this temple are the hermit monk statues that surround the temple's primary sacred tree.
A Buddha statue placed amid the hermit monks, with a Dharma Wheel behind his head while giving what would look to the Westerner as the Okay Sign. This gesture is called the Dharmachakra mudra and it symbolizes both the Wheel of the Dharma and the continuous, circular flow of energy between wisdom and practice in the heart and mind of the one who is enlightened.
