Nakhon Si Thammarat, Buddhism in Thailand; what to see and do

Nakhon Si Thammarat It is one of the most interesting stages in a sightseeing trip in southern thailand.

Despite its relatively small size, it is a cosmopolitan and sophisticated city that is well worth knowing.

In fact his great temple of Phra Mahathat, its peculiar kitchen and its artistic traditions they make it the cultural capital of the south the country.

Furthermore, within a short distance, intact nature appears in National Parks y deserted beaches.

The pink dolphins They are the main attractions of the excursions to the nearby islands in the Khanom district.

However, Nakhon Si Thammarat It is not a very visited city foreign tourism in Thailand, and that is why it shows a very traditional way of life and environment.

Here you live the Thailand always, oblivious to fashions and outside influences.

Nakhon Si Thammarat, history, culture and religion in Thailand

Nakhon Si Thammarat has great importance in the history, culture and religion of Thailand.

All this is due to its peculiar geographical location, and to notice it it is worth looking at a map of Thailand.

Nakhon Si Thammarat is near the eastern coast of the long, narrow peninsula formed by southern Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

A very short distance away are the ports of Trang and Krabi provinces, but already on the western coast of the peninsula.

For centuries, international trade from the entire region passed through this area through the road that linked both coasts. This way the ships did not have to go around the entire Malay Peninsula.

Through both ports, Thailand established contact with the rest of the world, and these relations were very important from a commercial point of view, but also religious and cultural.

Nakhon Si Thammarat, birthplace of Buddhism in Thailand

In fact, buddhism l Thailand through these routes and so it is said that Nakhon Si Thammarat is the birthplace of Buddhism in the country.

It is a factor of great importance that, in addition, makes the city an important pilgrimage center due to the influx to great temple of Phra Mahathat.

La arrival of buddhism It is referred to through the story of two brothers, the Prince Thanatha Kumarn and Princess Hemchala, who carried a tooth of Buddha to prevent it from being stolen from the temple where it was located in southern India.

Their ship was wrecked on the coast of Trang and the princes, who believed they were in Ceylon, crossed the peninsula to the beach of Sai Kaew, where they buried the relic and built a chedi.

Chedi is the name given to the stupas in Thailand, which are massive structures built to shelter important relics, Whether de Buddha, from important disciples or from donors who thus want to earn merits.

In the 12th century, about a thousand years later, a large chedi which, with different reconstructions, is the one we know today.

Throughout this time it has maintained its Sinhala style, with a square base and a bell-shaped structure, and is very similar to the stupa by Kiri Vihara in Polonnaruwa.

El Phra Mahathat temple It began to receive immense donations from kings, merchants and pilgrims, but many arrived after the consecration of the temple.

It is said that these riches were hidden in different places in the region, in caves and under other chedis, and that will not be discovered until the year 5000 of the was a buddhist.

Due to its importance, it is considered one of the seven Maha Chedis, the big ones stupas from Thailand.

Visit the Phra Mahathat Temple in Nakhon Si Thammarat

Nakhon Si Thammarat, Which is located about 800 kilometers south of Bangkok, is not a very large city, it has about 100.000 inhabitants, and the most interesting area is the one located around the Phra Mahathat Royal Temple.

This temple receives a constant flow of pilgrims since, as has already been said, it represents the place through which Buddhism came to Thailand.

This place is the best to start the discovery of this relatively little visited region, beyond the most touristic islands.

The temple can be visited without any problems; It is only necessary to comply with the minimum standards of conduct required to enter a sacred precinct.

Enter this temple, which is a complex full of rooms with mural paintings and an infinite number of small chedis, it's like immersing yourself in a world of eastern traditions very ancient but very alive.

For example, amulets made from the ashes of incense offerings of Phra Mahathat They are the most valued in the entire country.

These amulets, round in shape, are known as Jatukham Ramathep and they became known throughout the country because a police officer used them to protect himself with them in his acts of duty.

Due to the great demand for amulets, other Thai temples began to manufacture them.

However, the religious authorities of Phra Mahathat They decided to stop providing the temple's incense ashes and disassociate themselves from its production.

The temple is included in the tentative list of World Heritage for the Unesco because it has preserved its structure intact since the 12th century and through it the entire Buddhist universe is shown.

Magha Puja Buddhist Festival in Nakhon Si Thammarat

The most important moment of the year in Nakhon Si Thammarat It takes place during the full moon of the third month of the lunar calendar, which normally occurs in February.

It is when the Magha Puja, One most important buddhist festivals since it commemorates the meeting of Buddha with his first disciples.

Although it is a special day in many countries, in none it has as much importance as in Thailand, and the best place to live that moment is Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The fundamental ceremony of the festival is the act of rolling a piece of cloth up to a thousand meters in length around the chedi.

During the festival, a long line of pilgrims forms who carry the piece of cloth on their heads and walk through the temple until they reach the most sacred place, the one that keeps relics of themselves. Buddha and is crowned by a pinnacle of 600 kilos of gold.

Other similar ceremonies, although more modest, are celebrated on different occasions throughout the year.

La cultural significance of Nakhom si Thammarat It is also shown that it is one of the best places to delve into the art of nang talung, thai shadow theater and that only survives in the south of the country.

The puppets are made of buffalo skin and, as is usual in this type of show, what the spectators see is the shadow that the puppets project on a screen that hides the narrators and musicians.

There are several workshops around the temple and a museum offers a complete vision of this tradition that is disappearing due to the difficulty involved in practicing it.

You have to take advantage of a visit to Nakhon Si Thammarat to walk aimlessly through the streets of the center, around the markets, enjoying the atmosphere and the gastronomy of traditional restaurants.

Here you can already feel the closeness of Malaysia and the Muslim populations mingle with the Buddhist ones.

El street atmosphere It is very varied and interesting, and displays a much more cosmopolitan atmosphere than other northern cities of similar size.