Tales of Thailand - Wat Baan Waeng and the Buddhist Hell Park

Wat Ban Waeng (Pho Chai Sri)is a unique temple 50km's north west of Udon Thani, Thailand. It is home of Luang Pho Phra Sai, a bronze image of a seated Buddha. Additionally, if you stroll around the grounds of this Wat you will encounter didactical (or instructive) exhibits of statues illustrating various aspects of Buddhist heaven and hell. The series of exhibits illustrate the fate or Karma of any individual who follows or defies the five precepts of Buddhism. For example there is the tree of women which invites the spectator to defy the precept of sexual misconduct. Walk along a bit and you will see what happens if such a temptation gets the better of you. Walking along, you come to an exhibit depicting individuals having their entrails or "innards" torn out for defying the Buddhist precept of killing. Fear not, for you are also treated to the ecstasy of heaven which awaits you if you had been smart enough to follow the 5 precepts and lead a good life. more information here: www.udonmap.com

Teacher Charlie's Notes:

Isan’s Ban Phu Buddhist Garden at Wat Ban Waeng

Ban Phu itself as I came to discover, has some amazing Wats with probably the most famous one being only meters from where I ended up staying for the next few days.

I guess when you describe such places, you normally think of a ‘Wat’ as a complex of buildings, chedis and wats (temples). What really surprised me however was an artistic impression of Buddha’s teachings in a ‘park’ of sorts between older and newer temples.

As you entered the area from the parking lot, you are immediately struck with a tree sculpture which has a 'damsel' dangling from each limb. They look happy in their predicament with each being attached to this ‘tree of life’ by a cap configured as a leaf.

At the very top of the tree, is a couple. This is the only ‘man figure’ on the tree and represents the ‘king’, or at least that is my interpretation. He looks as he is about ready to ‘jump her bones’ as we say in America, and quite honestly I’m a bit surprised it doesn’t show them in ‘the act’ as the rest of the art on the grounds is about as graphic as any I have ever seen in my travels around the world, although what I have seen in Germany gets pretty graphic!

As you walk through the park, you find many interpretations of mythology and Buddhist teachings but it is only when you reach another ‘tree’, that you are struck with the sheer brutality of what these teachings are telling you will happen if you aren’t a good person on this plain of existence. This symbolism makes the Christian’s hell look like a Club Med resort by comparison!

This second tree shows naked individuals being forced up a barren tree with thick thorns covering its trunk. Vicious dogs are at the base of the tree, chewing apart those that do not climb for their life or who fall from the tree’s trunk. One dog is ripping the intestines out of those who fall or unwilling to climb the tree.

After viewing this viciousness, you continue your stroll and are met with yet another series of depictions of these teachings, and personally, even more disturbing then that of the one you just passed. I think I prefer something a little less blood curdling..