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decreaseWhile at the relatives house in Pehn outside of Nong Khai we took many day trips around the countryside. This place, Wat Sala Kaeo Ku, is another one our brother-in-law brought us to see. On subsequent later trips we saw even more places and sights. This place is excellent for having many places to see. We went back even later again to see the famed ‘Naga’ fireballs, which I’ll document here another time. This temple complex and statue gardens is taken from Penh southwards on highway 2022 to the city of
Entrance to the statuary gardens of Wat Sala Kaeo Ku
The wonderful shady green gardens of Wat Sala Kaeo Ku.
A fat happy Buddha. You really don’t see many of these in Thailand.
Naga protecting the Buddha.
This is a great huge statue. It’s around five stories tall. My favorite.
Another view of the gardens and statue placement. It is very pretty here and peaceful.
The godess who balances your good deeds and bad.
This is one of my favorite pictures from this temple.
Many gods and demons of Buddhism.
The god of death I believe I was told.
Not two-faced, but three-faced!
These statues were incredible. Very tall and beautiful.
The surroundings were so peaceful here. They have a place where there is a large fish pong stocked with Koi and Catfish. The fish are brought as fingerlings by Thais looking to make merit and released into the pond during various festivals and holy days. They aren’t allowed to be caught or eaten. They are for Buddha. These fish grow to gigantic size. People buy small bags of fish-food pellets and feed them. We do this very often. It is so relaxing to feed the fish and just watch them swim about in lazy circles waiting to be fed. I need to do this as I do fish. It’s my way of thanking the fish gods for letting me catch their brother fish.
More of the long tall Buddha statues.
A shot of the Naga from a different angle.
She's beautiful isn't she? But dangerous as well.
I loved this place. It was a nice relaxing day trip. I would recommend going in the early morning, or as we did, the late afternoon. At these times the garden trees and bushes provide a lot of shade from the brilliant hot tropical sunshine. At noontime it can get very hot, usually in the mid 90's. If you will be arriving at mid-day bring some umbrellas to ward off the sun. There are bathrooms, a gift shop, and some shops where you can buy cold drinks, even beer, and food as well.
I hope you enjoyed this article and the pictures of Wat Sala Kaeo Ku.
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Some facts on Wat Sala Kaeo Ku for the readers:
Sala Kaeo Ku is full of strange statues built according to the beliefs of a defunct Buddhist sect. It is 3 kilometres from town on the way to Phon Phisai. Luang Pu Luea, (Luang means 'uncle' in Thai) an old man who believes all religions should be integrated together, set up the park in 1978 by allegedly using unskilled craftsman to carry out fine details on the statues. Sala Kaeo Ku features a large garden of statues depicting Buddhist and Hindu gods, goddesses, saints, devils, and demons, as well as some secular sculptures.
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Mike
Copyright 2005. All rights reserved by the author.
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