Leonardo Visits a Thai Temple Leonardo visits Wat Chalong in Phuket
During a break from filming, Leonardo visited Wat Chalong with seven members of the production team. This temple, with its show of brilliant colours and a magnificent roof architecture, is one of the most impressive temples on Phuket island. It is also the temple where the famous Abbot Luang Po Chaem once resided and his image is highly revered by Buddhists. It was this abbot who managed to quell a major Chinese rebellion over tin mining riots in 1876. The locals believed that he possessed mystical magical powers. The images of Luang Po Chaem and another abbot Luang Po Chaung are kept lavishly with offerings of golf leaf, flowers and lighted incense sticks. Leonardo was first told the story of the monks and then he paid respects to the images by placing some gold leaf on them.
Chalong temple which Leonardo visited to pay respects to a revered image of a monk. The photograph to the left shows Thai students Suthiphong, Nattawud and Sakdipat. How to pay respects to a Buddha image The above pictures are of one of our students, Nattawud Daoruang, visiting a Thai temple. In the picture to the left he first pays respect to the Buddha image. Between his palms he is holding some flowers, a candle and three incense sticks. Once he has chanted some prayers he then prostrates three times. In the picture to the right, Nattawud is making merit by placing some gold leaf on a Buddha image in order to make it more beautiful.
Temple offerings: When praying at the temple Thai people place three objects of offering in front of main Buddha images: a candle, a lotus flower and incense sticks. The candle symbolizes the light of understanding, and the lotus is considered an exalted flower, special to the Buddha. For the incense there must be three sticks, which represents the Buddhist Triple Gem, standing for the Buddha, his teachings (the dharma), and the monkhood (the sangha).
Gold Leaf: Sold in little booklets, tiny squares of wafer-thin gold leaf are traditionally pressed on to Buddha images. In part this is done because Thais feel it is appropriate that the image is thus richly adorned, though there is a certain belief attached to the practice. If a person places gold leaf on a Buddha statue, it is believed he or she will receive certain benefits. There are three especially important places to put the gold leaf: on the mouth so that the giver will be blessed with good speech or sweet talk; on the head so as to become more wise; and on the chest over the heart to ensure a good heart in the sense of both health and kindness.
Related Web Sites: You might like to visit some of the following pages produced by our school which gives some background information about Buddhism:
We are grateful to the following books for help in constructing this page:
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"I am acting, here in Thailand, in a film called The Beach. It is about backpackers who look for utopia on a Thai island." (DiCaprio in his second statement to the press 5/Feb/99)
