Wat Phranon Laem Pho Songkhla

Not too far from Songkhla General Prem Tinsulanonda Historical Park is the Reclining Buddha. Wat Phranon Laem Pho is located at Koyo Mueang Songkhla, Thailand. Just passing through Tinsulanonda bridge you can see the back image of the Golden Reclining Buddha. google map click here. 

That day Mr. Sun is still hiding from the dark clouds but the rain already stops from falling. So we were lucky enough to enjoy the place and take a picture with my hubby. A lot of people is worshiping in the temple. Aside from this Reclining Buddha, there's a prayer hall and temples around.

This Reclining Buddha is also one of the tourist attraction here in Songkhla. Don't miss this place when visiting Songkhla Province. The Buddha is really big, I guess about 25 meters long if I'm not mistaken but definitely not less than 20 meters.

Since I already visited lots of temples I searched on the internet about Buddha's posture. This is what I read, each Buddha statue, pose or posture and hand gesture have a significant meaning related to an important event in his life. This Reclining Buddha is also called Nirvana Buddha.

According to the Buddhism belief:

This statue depicts the historical Buddha in the last moment of his life on Earth, prior to the Buddha dying one last time before entering Nirvana. It is said that an almsgiver had accidentally given the Buddha pork that had gone bad, and this eventually led to the death of the Buddha.

Because the Buddha had gained enlightenment in his lifetime, the Buddha was able to escape the endless cycle of birth-death-rebirth known as Sam Sara and was able to enter Nirvana.

On this pose, the Buddha is always depicted lying on the right-hand side on top of a resting table. The reclining Buddha serene composed and restful demeanor but actually slightly smiling. A reminder of the serenity that comes with enlightenment.

There are different Buddha posture around but they are not as big as this reclining Buddha. They have a Walking Buddha but in Thailand locally known as "Sukhothai Buddha". Signifies grace and internal beauty and in Thai, they call this "PhraLeeLaa" right hand raised, facing outward.

It represents a time when Buddha was returning to Earth after delivering a sermon on the Sharma in Heaven and was being accompanied by Lord Indra and Lord Brahma.

If you are not here to worship, your purpose is just to travel and take a look. You can come here any month but avoid coming here in April because the reclining Buddha is covered in the yellow cloth so you might get disappointed. The entrance is free and they have a free parking lot too. 

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