Wat Uphaiphatikaram

Wat Uphaiphatikaram (Wat Sam Po Kong) is located on Suphakit Road in Mueang Chachoengsao District, Chachoengsao, near Ban Mai Market. It was once a Chinese shrine but later became a Vietnamese Mahayana temple. It has a shrine where Luang Phor Toh (Phra Trai Rattananayok), known by the Chinese as Sam Po Kong, is hosted. In Thailand, there are only three statues of Sam Po Kong. They are hosted at Wat Kanlayanamit, Thonburi, Bangkok, at Wat Phanan Cheong, Ayutthaya and here at Wat Uphaiphatikaram, Chachoengsao. Historically, it is said that in the reign of King Chulalongkorn, there were a father and his son who were millionaires. They lived near Ban Mai Martket and were very faithful to Luang Phor Toh of Wat Phanan Choeng, Ayutthaya. In 1906, they dedicated their money to making a reproduction of Wat Phanan Choeng’s Sam Po Kong and also devoted their land near the market to constructing a shrine where the Buddha image would be hosted.The Buddha image of Sam Po Kong has a lap size of 6.5 metres and a height of 12 metres. When King Chulalongkorn paid a visit to Chachoengsao, he dedicated his money to constructing another building in the temple and to renovating the Buddha image. He then gave the name “Wat Uphaiphatikaram” to the temple and, knowing the Buddha image is a reproduction of the one in Ayutthaya, named it “Phra Trai Rattananayok”, which is the same name as its model in Ayutthaya. Although Wat Uphaiphatikaram is not a major temple, there are lots of Buddhists coming here to pay homage to the Buddha image, especially tourists from Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan who usually visit the temple at the weekend. The temple’s address: Suphakit Road, near Ban Mai Market Ban Mai Subdistrict, Mueang Chachoengsao, Chachoengsao. Tel: 0-3881-6904 or 0-3851-1198Website: http://www.uphaiphatikaram.com/