Wat Mutchalinthawapi Wihan

Wat Mutchalinthawapi WihanWat Mutchalinthawapi Wihan is a temple located on Pattani-Khok Pho Highway in the Nong Chik Subdistrict Municipal area, about 10 kilometres from Pattani Town.It is an ancient temple founded after Phraya Wichianphakdi Sisongkhram moved the Nong Chik District office to Tuyong District in 1845. It was formerly known as “Wat Tuyong”. After that, when King Chulalongkorn paid a visit to Nong Chik, he made a donation for Ubosot building and renamed the temple to “Wat Mutchalinthawapi Wihan” in order that the temple’s name is in accordance with the town’s name, Nong Chik, literally meaning the swamp of the Indian oak. (Muchalintha means the Indian oak and wapi means a swamp or a pond.)The ubosot, the main hall, houses a Chiang Saen-style bronze Buddha image in the subduing Mara position which is the temple’s principal Buddha image. It has a lap width of one metre and four inches. Also, it is one of the 1,248 ancient Buddha images King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke collected from Sukhothai and other northern cities.After entering the temple, visitors will see the statues of the temple’s first abbot and the first ruler of Nong Chik standing prominently in front of the temple’s buildings. Not far from the statues is a welcome sign saying welcome to “University of Life”. Moreover, the temple’s wihan is also one of the temple’s famous spots. It is where the sculptures of the temple’s three former abbots are hosted. One of them is the sculpture of Phra Ratcha Buddha Rangsi, also known as Luang Por Dum, the fifth abbot. Learning of his good deeds in the past, a lot of people usually visit the temple to pay respect to his statue. Wat Mutchalinthawapi Wihan is one of the province’s major Royal Temples. Serving as the religious centre for Buddhists, the temple organises a Dharma practice annually, which attracts a large number of Buddhists. Furthermore, as the miracles of Luang Por Dum is what the temple is known for, the temple makes amulets including those of Luang Por Dum, famous monks and the temple’s abbots for believers to buy and pay homage to. The temple also holds a ceremony to make these amulets sacred objects.For those who wish to visit the temple and pay respect to the sacred objects, it is open daily to the public from 8:00 to 17:00.