Temple-Hopping on Samui

If you have had so much of the beach, try visiting the temples.Besides being spiritually uplifting,temple-hopping can be culturally enlightening.

There are many temples to visit on Samui. The most famous of these, of course, is the Big Buddha (Phra Yai). Although not so old as other Big Buddha images in the country, it is a must-see for its enonnity and beauty.

The image, in Subduing Mara Posture, is a huge structure of golden-tile finish. Located at the peak of Koh Fan Mountain, it offers visitors a scenic view of Bophut and Bangrak beaches, and Phangan Island.

The Praderm Temple, builtabout 230 years ago, deserves a closer look. Believed to be the first Buddhist temple on the island, it houses the ashes of an abbot and has an old wooden library that keeps Buddhist scriptures. It is located at Tambon Na Mueng.

The Same Ret Temple was called Maret Temple in the past. It houses the hundred-year-old Silayuang Buddha image from Burma, a reclining Buddha made of coral, and 50 other Buddha images. It is located west of Baan Hua Thanon.

Sila Ngu Temple, more popularly known as Chedi of Hin Ngu, is revered for its golden chedi. A villager from Tembon Maret built the chedi to shelter the relics of Chawkhun Pra. It is located at the beach east of Ban Hua Thanon. A cross-legged human body ina glass coffin, said to have been on display here since 1973, adds an aura of mystery to the Kunaram Temple located southeast of the island, on a main road (4169) near Na Mueng Waterfall and Ban Hua Thanon.

Another holy place of interest is the Kaw Lae, a pavilion where four Buddha footprints are preserved. Nobody exactly knows how these footprints ended up on this mountain.

To see these footprints, one has to climb up 150 steps, which are too steep. The pavilion also offers a panoramic view of Samui.

The Na Phra Lan Temple is home to the ashes of Than Khrua Phutsom, a famous monk in the past. People pay homage to the chedi in this temple on the last day of the fifth month and the first day of the sixth month.