Temples of  Thailand - a photographic journey

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Wat Khao Khun Phanom

Surely the most important temple we visited in the province of Nakhon Si Thammarat was Wat Khao Khun Phanom. A long stairway leads up to a huge cave inside the mountain. The way down inside the cave was very dark and resulted in a dangerous climb, so not all of us went down. To our surprise we met a nun whom we had talked with on the other side of Thailand more than a year ago in Wat Kong Din. She introduced us to the abbot of the temple who is a great master of meditation and breathing techniques and who invited us to stay for the evening prayers and night meditation because it was Buddha day when we visited. 

According to the legend this cave is believed to having been the place where King Taksin the Great entered his monkhood and finally died in A.D. 1782. Several Ayutthaya-style Buddha images and other artefacts were found in the caves here and are now placed in museums. 

A very special place to visit! Wat Khao Khun Phanom is our 990th temple to add to chimburi.com

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