Eye in the Sky: Wat Luang at the Riverside - Temples in Ubon Ratchathani

Wat Luang is easily reached because it is located at the banks of the Moon River, right in the heart of the Muang District of Ubon Ratchathani. I have mentioned Wat Luang in a previous post, but here are the images from this temple. A local who was doing her jogging told me that this temple was actually one of the earliest built in the city, but others have claimed as the more significant temple. It has a typical Isan Temple architecture, i.e. these temples are very high, but narrow (among humans, "tall and thin"). The ubosot (the ordination hall) is mostly closed for the laity so I wasn't able to see how it looks inside. The wiharn at the simpler building has the beautiful gleaming Buddha, with a photo of the King when he did his monkhood. This Buddha sits at the center of a spacious, relatively empty hallway. It is beautifully framed by lacquered wood at its back.

The ground is like a park. It has gardens, other Buddhas, a recurring statue of an old monk (probably the Ecclesiastical founder of the city), a Ganesha-like dark image sitting atop a marble pedestal under the canopy of a tree; a drum tower; and more wiharns filled with different Buddha images and other Buddhist deities.

Like most other temples, it has very few visitors during my visit. After a stroll around this temple, you could either sit on a bench facing the Moon River (just outside the temple) or head to the nearby market for a look around.

This is the Eye in the Sky!