Amphawa, Thailand –
“Ride ‘em, cowboy!”
The phrase entered my head as the child hopped on the statue of a fighting cock like it was a horse.
Hands on the neck, he was ready to ride.
The fact that it was a bird didn’t seem to phase him.
It was an animal, and it was just his size.
He could care less about what else there was to see here.
Eventually, his parents enticed him off the cock, and on to the temple.
After all, that was what they had come here to see.
It’s not every day you see a temple inside a tree.
One of the things that I find fascinating is how banyan trees will grow around and over anything that is in its way.
Ta Phohm in Cambodia is a good example, where the trees have become part of the temple.
Wat Bang Kung, in the Amphawa district outside of Bangkok is another.
Although it is not near as famous.
In fact, it is practically unknown.
Off the beaten track, so to speak.
But it’s located at a significant spot in Thai history.
It was the camp of King Taskin when the Burmese attacked in 1767, forcing the king and his troops out of the capital of Ayutthaya.
The question in my mind is which came first, the troops camping here, or the temple?
My guess is that the temple was built by the troops, and then abandoned with the rest of the site for years afterward.
Long enough for the tree to take root.
And to take the temple.
Or most of it, at least.
There are a couple of windows, one on either side, along with the entrance, still open.
And then the backside remains tree-free as well.
I don’t know how banyan trees grow, or rather how their roots grow, seeking out the dirt below, but I’m guessing that they cling to the sides of whatever they are absorbing.
That would explain how the doorway and windows remain open.
Otherwise, I would expect to see signs of someone having hacked away the roots covering these openings.
Or maybe the temple never was completely abandoned.
Maybe some monk remained, guiding the tree roots around these gaps.
Leaving access to the inside.
Simple as it may be.
Still, it is a temple, with the requisite Buddha statue inside
Along with a few others that look more like significant monks in the temple’s history.
And all are covered in gold leaf.
So you’ve got the usual bowing and praying going on that you would in any other Buddhist temple.
Just inside a tree.
Hope you’re not claustrophobic.
Although, from the inside, you don’t see any of the tree roots, except through the windows.
It has stayed outside.
For now.
Again, there may be a monk or two, guiding the tree along.
Keeping it outside.
Keeping the inside tree-free.
But it’s outside the temple where things get really funky.
Because this was a significant historical military site, the temple is next to a large, modern military shrine.
Complete with statues in eighteenth-century armor standing guard.
And a statue of a military leader sitting on a pedestal.
I assume its King Taskin, but since the plaque is all in Thai, I don’t know for sure.
But he is sitting, with his sword across his lap.
And behind is a very large building, housing the main memorial, and I’m assuming the details of the battle, camp, and campaigns waged from this location.
Again, everything being in Thai, I couldn’t read any of it.
Then, on the other side of the military shrine from the temple, are rows of fighting figures.
Well, while they are fighting, they are instructional figures.
They are illustrating all of the various positions in Muay Thai, a Thai form of martial arts and kickboxing combined.
In one row, the figures are all dressed in both shirts and pants, more or less the full martial arts outfit.
Just a nice shade of dark blue or brown instead of the typical white.
And in another row, they’re all wearing boxing shorts, and are bare chested.
It makes me wonder if one row is more advanced positions than the other.
I guess I’ll never know for sure, there not being any explanation to be found.
Not even in Thai.
At least, not that I found.
So, in one site, you can pray to Buddha, pay homage to the Thai history, and learn to kick-box.
And then there are the cocks.
Hundreds of them.
All sitting between the temple and the military monument.
And they may have been the source of the problems in the first place.
From what I’ve gathered, the Burmese invasion may have been triggered by a cock fight.
It seems the King of Siam and the Prince of Burma were both very much into cock fighting.
And at some point they had a match between their prize roosters.
The King of Siam’s rooster won, and there was the requisite amount of trash talking as a result.
Let’s just say the royalty are not the most gracious of winners or losers.
The trash talking led to bruised egos.
And since we’re talking royalty here, the bruised egos naturally led to war.
After all, when your prize rooster loses a fight, the only way to rectify the loss is to invade the country of the winning rooster.
Yeah, sounds about right.
The rulers get their egos hurt, and the little people of their kingdoms bear the brunt.
Politics haven’t changed in hundreds of years.
At least, back then, I think the leaders accompanied their troops to the battle site.
May have even fought along side of them.
Maybe.
That meant there was at least a chance that they would risk getting wounded, and perhaps killed.
Not like today, where the leaders starting the war sit back in their air-conditioned office, hundreds if not thousands of miles away.
Where the only wound they might suffer is a paper cut.
Oh my…
For more photos of Wat Bang Kung, click here.
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