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!

Temple gable decked in red and gold, elephants, leaves, and a praying image.

Naga guards the stairs leading to the ubosot.

Looks like Ganesh.

Just a beautiful corner

A busy wiharn (above and below)

Buddha image at the wiharn

Drum Tower

Wat Maneewanaram - Temples in Ubon Ratchathani

Wat Maneewanaram is also called Wat Paa Noi, found in Muang District of Ubon Ratchathani. It's easier to locate than most other second-tier temples because it stands beside Wat Thung Si Muang. The temple ground houses another smaller, albeit simpler building - called the "wiharn" closer to the south gate. This temple ground hosts an elementary school, thus you will find school children playing around the complex. During my visit, kids dressed in boy scout uniforms could be seen. 


The "ubosot" or "ordination hall" ("sim" in Laos) is closed for visitors so we couldn't see the altar inside. The elements of a Thai temple all exist here: "Every temple must have a bot (ubosot), surrounded by eight Sema boundary stones, and will often have one or more wiharn housing an important Buddha image."


Unlike in Laos where the faithful could pray at the ordination halls, laity pray at the wiharn (also spelled "viharn").


Personally, I can pray where my feet stand. My prayers are my direct connection with my faith, but the concept of religion makes it tangible to employ houses of worships in the form of wats, temples, mosques, churches, etc. It also strengthens the concept of a unified and sanctified communion with a more Supreme Being. 


This is the Eye in the Sky!

The ubosot of Wat Maneewanaram

Detail of the temple gable's design

Intricate detail surrounding the windows

Five huge windows from each side, and two doors at the entrance.

This could be the wiharn where laymen could pray. Notice the open door. Undergoing renovation during my visit.

Wat Maneewanaram's South Temple Gate

A boy scout with pink neckerchief (and yellow slide) observes.

More boy scouts

Wat Thung Si Muang - Temples of Ubon Ratchathani

The three must-see temples in Ubon Ratchathani, if you were to believe most travel guides, are the bodhi-style Wat Nong Bua, the desolate Wat Pha Nanachat, and this - Wat Thung Si Muang, the city's "most central" temple because it's easily reached if you stay in the backpack district of Muang. A few of the reasons why this is so: (1) the temple combines styles from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Burma; (2) it houses the Tripitaka Library, aka Hor Trai, aka Scriptures Hall.

Wat Thung Si Muang is steeped in history. The temple was built during the reign of King Rama III, founded sometime in the 1820's by the Ecclesiastical chief officer of Ubon (hold your breath) - Phra Ariyawongsachan Yanawimon Ubon Sangkhapamok (Sui). Sui studied in Wat Saket and upon his return in Ubon, he took with him a replica of Buddha's footprint which is currently housed inside the temple's ubosot (ordination hall). This ubosot's exterior design was patterned after Ayutthayan style. The hallway is garnished with designs from the Rattanakosin era admixed with styles from Vientiane (Laos). All the walls are colorfully painted with murals depicting themes during King Rama II's reign.

The temple's most important feature is its Tripitaka Hall, a wooden library on stilts that rises on a pond full of lotus, located just beside the ubosot. In our next post, we shall separately feature the Tripitaka (Tipitaka) Library.

Admission is free. During my visit (which lasted for an hour), I didn't see any other tourists, local or foreign, which underlines the dearth of visitors in a beautiful city like Ubon Ratchathani.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Wat Thung Si Muang ubosot

Ubosot's interior. Now where is the replica of Buddha's footprint?

This is probably Phra Ariyawongsachan, the founder of the temple.

Murals on the interior walls of the ubosot depict scenes from King Rama II's reign.

Antelope-headed and bird like chofahs (decorations at the end of the temple gables).

Overlooking the huge wiharn and the wooden Tripitaka Library

Where are the semas (boundary stones, usually shaped like a leaf and in 8's)?

Tripitaka library and the large wiharn.