Wat Pradu

Wat Pradu was a very old temple built in the late Ayutthaya period. In the Rattanakosin time King Rama V, for the respect he had for Luang Pu Jaeng the Wat Pradu abbot at that time, paid a visit by river to the temple, and also had his breakfast there. The principal royal offerings from the King to the temple have been of great value until these days.Around 1974, the present abbot put all the royal offerings in one place, which then became a museum. The offerings constitute a very large number of cloth bags for monks, palm leaf fans, kettles, alm bowl covers decorated with mother-of-pearl in laid, stacked up food carriers. Many items have on them carved signs to mark the occasions they were presented, such as on the royal occasion of the topknot cutting ceremony of a young prince, and so on. Then in 2004 the abbot conceived the idea of having the museum expanded by having the offerings put in a newly built building. He was hoping that gradually the museum would became more complete. The present museum now consists of 2 buildings.The first building houses the offerings from King Rama V. The building has 2 floors. The ground floor has a display of the things presented to the temple by the local people who have great respects for Luang Pu Jaeng, Phra Mahachulasak Atisupkho, and the other abbots as well. The upper floor has the royal offerings and models of the well-known revered monks. There is an exhibition on King Rama V’s biography, consisting of a small carved statue of him and other display items-photographs, sign boards giving information about the King. Here also there are small sets of benjarongware and the crockery that used to be the temple’s properties.Coming down from the first building and walking towards the car park, one would come to a wooden place, another section, with models of the renowned monks in the Mae Klong River area. There are also some benjarong bowls and dishes, glazed pottery, brassware, old sacred water pots, properties of the temple. On the ceiling the abbot had some artists do interesting paintings of the literary Ravana stories.For more information, please call +66 3473 5237, +66 3477 2299, +66 83 433 4722