Last night I wrote about the construction of the new school building at Wat Klong. There was another construction project that occupied several of the years that I taught there. The main temple is across an open area. Forming a quadrangle are the old school faced by the temple to the east. To the south, at the end of the open area, is the new school facing north to a monk's prayer/meditation chapel at that end of the open space, the construction of which I observed.
The senior monk gave me a tour of the chapel after it was finished. The money for the chapel was raised from a donor he visited in Singapore, good karma no doubt. Apparently monks don't like boats or to get their feet wet. The chapel and the main temple are connected by an elevated walkway, of which the only use is by monks during episodic floods. The walkway is enclosed with chain link fencing and is also roofed. Quite an elaborate structure as the pictures below illustrate. There are only a handful of monks at the temple and the chapel is quite large. Never did I see monks going or coming from it while I was at the school. Perhaps it's an early morning venture, though at 6:00 a.m., they all go begging for their day's food. While monk's take a vow of poverty the temple does not.
Now I'm relying on memories of Thailand.
Takk for alt,
Al
No comments:
Post a Comment