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Lord Buddha’s footprint showcased at Khao Phrabat Temple
The entrance to Khao Phrabat Temple on Pratamnak
Hill.
Warunya Thongrod
Besides its beaches and bars, Pattaya offers a number of Buddhist temples to
attract the interest of tourists. Khao Phrabat Temple is one of them.
Overshadowed by the more popular Khao Phra Yai Temple, Khao Phrabat also
sits on Big Buddha Hill near the statute of the revered Prince Chumphon.
Among Buddhists, however, Khao Phrabat is itself revered for its cast model
of Lord Buddha’s footprint.
Built in 1967 upon request the request of Chaimongkol Temple Abbot Vibun
Sangkhakarn, the temple showcases the footprint on a granite altar.
Visitors can also enjoy the colorful pictures on the “mandapa” hall and pay
their respects to gods overseeing birthdays in each month of the year.
Guests can also give alms and necessary items as donations. The view from
the hill isn’t bad either.
It is believed there are only five casts of the Buddha’s footprint, on each
housed at Khao Suwanmalik in Laem Malayu, Khao Suwan Banpot in Saraburi;
Khao Sumonkut in Sri Lanka, Yonkaburi in Chiang Mai, and on the Nerbudda
River in India.
Various Buddha statues represent different days
of the week for people to worship on their birthday.
A replica of Buddha’s footprint is highly
worshipped at Wat Khao Phrabat.
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Former cop spins tunes
at latest Hard Rock foam party
DJ Van rock the Beach Foam X Party at Hard Rock
Pattaya.
Warunya Thongrod
A former cop turned deejay spun the tunes as the Hard Rock Cafe foamed with
excitement at its latest Beach Foam X Party.
DJ Van, or former police Capt. Korawik Janden, scratched up the March 2
event, said to be the only regular foam party in Thailand.
Korawik won the Singha Battle of the Year Thailand 2008 and Thailand Pioneer
Pro DJ Digital Scratching Battle 2008. Since then, he’s been invited to
perform at shows and events.
The party is held around the swimming pool, which is decorated for the
occasion, and includes a couple beach balls for the more energetic, while
soft foam drifts over the area.
Parties each Saturday from 9:30 p.m. to midnight with DJ Zac working at
house tune-spinner. Admission is 480 baht and includes one drink. Guests
must be 20 and over. A family-friendly foam party for children is held form
5-6 p.m. and costs 350 baht each.
Night party-goers rocking hard at the Hard Rock
foam party.
Foam covered beach balls are batted around the
staging area.
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Chef Ram takes up residence at Oasis Restaurant
Chef Ram Pravesh Prasad.
AndreBrulhart, General Manager of Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya
has announced the appointment of Ram Pravesh Prasad as Chef de Cuisine of
Oasis Restaurant with immediate effect.
Chef Ram hails from New Delhi, India. He began his career 13 years ago as an
apprentice in the Radisson Hotel in his home city, and then progressed to
the Park Hotel, followed by the Taj Ambassador Hotel, both in New Delhi. Ram
then joined the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, where he became Chef de
Partie, staying at the resort for three years before becoming sous chef at
Radisson Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach.
Prior to joining Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya, Ram was sous
chef at Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Bangkok for almost three
years.
Bhutan’s amazing iron chain bridges
Andrew J Wood
Thangtong Gyalpo
Thangtong Gyalpo (1385-1464) was a great Buddhist, a yogi, physician,
blacksmith, architect, and a pioneering civil engineer. He is said to have
built many iron chain suspension bridges around Tibet and Bhutan, several of
which are still in use today.
In Tibetan, Chakzampa means Bridge-Builder, and is one of the many names
attributed to the famous Tibetan saint known as Thangtong Gyalpo, who lived
in the 14th century in Tibet and later in Bhutan. He is considered to be a
patron saint of Tibetan medicine, as well as the founding father of Ache
Lhamo, Tibetan opera. Legend has it that Thangtong Gyalpo recruited
villagers to perform opera to help fund and build suspension bridges over
the wide Himalayan rivers to allow access by pilgrims to the sacred Buddhist
sites.
Tachog Lhakhang
Tachog Lhakhang Dzong is located in the Paro valley and was our first
stop from Paro airport as we drove to the capital Thimphu on our 8-day visit
to the Land of the Thunder Dragon.
Perched on the hillside over looking the River Paro Chhu stands the fortress
Tachog Lhakhang Dzong and one must actually cross one of Drupthob Thangtong
Gyalpo’s bridges to get to the Dzong. Drupthob Thangtong Gyalpo was the man
who built the iron chain bridges in Bhutan in the 1400s, and is said to have
built 108 of these bridges around Tibet and Bhutan. Many of them are still
in use today, showing how strong and durable the bridges are. The Tachog
Lhakhang Dzong itself is private, but can still be entered by visitors if
permission is given. The Dzong is relatively small and has many fruit trees,
orange and apple. The people who take care of the Dzong also herd cattle.
Bhutan
In 1433, Thangtong Gyalpo came to Bhutan. His route can be traced exactly.
In Bhutan, the spiritual guru not only found open ears for his teachings,
but he also found big iron ore deposits. The land was even more dependent on
consolidated bridges than Tibet, as raft or ferry connections were not
possible because of precipitous gorges and torrential rivers, except in some
southern and eastern parts of the land.
It is therefore no surprise that Thangtong Gyalpo immediately put into
practise the vision that he had received, namely to make it easier for
people to cross rivers and gorges with the construction of iron chain
bridges. While travelling through Western Bhutan he visited places where he
also found iron ore; for example Tachog (also called Damchog, Damchhu,
Tashog or Tamtscho), or places that were associated with blacksmiths; for
example Chang Dunkhar - above Paro airport. It is reported in the ‘History
of Bhutan’ that in Paro, 18 blacksmiths went to the saint to help him and
forge iron and more chain links.
The iron chain bridge at Tachog Lhakhan is festooned with brightly coloured
prayer flags, like so many in Bhutan, with metal netting for extra support,
it is quite flexible and acts a lot like a trampoline.
Looking down you can clearly see the chains and the river below, flowing
with gusto, clear and ice cold. Staying dry depends on the 600 year old
chains!
There is a separate bridge next to this one that is specifically for cattle
to use, as crossing over an iron chain bridge is very difficult and
dangerous for them.
Dupthob Thangtong Gyalpo is believed to be the first to use heavy iron
chains to construct suspension bridges. As mentioned earlier he built 108
bridges in Tibet and Bhutan. After arriving in Bhutan in 1433 he built eight
iron bridges in different parts of the country.
Royal Command
According to the biographical notes in the History of Bhutan, Thangtong
Gyalpo erected a bridge across the Paro Chhu to Tachog. The successors of
the first Chakzampa built a Lhakhang (temple) here. In 1969, the iron
suspension bridge was destroyed by high water. The chains were partly
rescued and kept in the attic of the shed behind the Lhakhang.
To ensure the access to the Tachog Lhakhang across the swift moving Paro
Chhu, a suspension bridge was built from cable ropes after 1969. As per the
royal wish of His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in 2005 the Ministry
of Works and Human Settlements had the cable rope suspension bridge again
substituted with an iron chain bridge. The foundations of the bridge on both
riverbanks, i.e. the bridgeheads, bear stately gate superstructures, which
are set up so high that practically no more danger exists through high
water. The iron chains used are historical without exception from different
places. Some of them are the secured chains of Tachog itself and four chains
originate from Doksum and Tashigang.
The soil of the hill on which the Tachog Lhakhang stands is coloured red by
the strong iron content found in the rocks all around the valley which were
used to manufacture the original chains.
Andrew J Wood is National President of Skål International Thailand and
director of Worldwide Destinations Asia Co., Ltd.
www.worldwidedestinationsasia.com
www.skalthailand.org
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