| WAT MONTHOP 2 |
Wat Monthop or the "Monastery of the Spired Building" is located off the main island
in the Southeast. It is situated on land now used by Wat Phanan Choeng as a
crematorium. A very large Chinese graveyard surrounds the remains of this former
monastery. A the years.
A large sala has been constructed on the site where Wat Monthop once stood. A
modern image of Buddha in the Subduing Mara pose stands at the altar, while two
smaller images sit to his left and right (oddly facing away from Buddha). This shrine also
showcases some detritus from more ancient Buddha images. An old well is also in situ,
but it is not clear if this was part of Wat Monthop.
I visited this monastery in 2001 with a group of students. A Buddhist monk invited me
and my students to participate in an unusual ritual. Apparently, some burial mounds are
occasionally opened up and the bodies exhumed. It is considered good merit to scrap
the remaining flesh off the bones so that they can be latter shipped back to ancestral
homeland in China. This practice is well documented in some countries, including parts of
the United States where Chinese were involved with mining and railroad construction. To
no surprise, my students declined to accept the monks invitation.
in the Southeast. It is situated on land now used by Wat Phanan Choeng as a
crematorium. A very large Chinese graveyard surrounds the remains of this former
monastery. A the years.
A large sala has been constructed on the site where Wat Monthop once stood. A
modern image of Buddha in the Subduing Mara pose stands at the altar, while two
smaller images sit to his left and right (oddly facing away from Buddha). This shrine also
showcases some detritus from more ancient Buddha images. An old well is also in situ,
but it is not clear if this was part of Wat Monthop.
I visited this monastery in 2001 with a group of students. A Buddhist monk invited me
and my students to participate in an unusual ritual. Apparently, some burial mounds are
occasionally opened up and the bodies exhumed. It is considered good merit to scrap
the remaining flesh off the bones so that they can be latter shipped back to ancestral
homeland in China. This practice is well documented in some countries, including parts of
the United States where Chinese were involved with mining and railroad construction. To
no surprise, my students declined to accept the monks invitation.
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| Text & photographs by Ken May - April 2009 Map by Tricky Vandenberg - July 2010 |
| (Click button for aerial view) |
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