Enemy of the State - Archaeologists, Temples & Buddhism #3

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Turn here and as a dutiful husband, I made the rapid turn off the secondary rode onto an even smaller on. Where are we going I said. “I saw a sign” was the reply and with that we were following Frost down the road less traveled.

My wife then informed me that the sign was old and it pointed down this road. All it has said was “Ancient Ruins”. That was enough for her. We went on and on through the rice fields of the North some green and some brown. About 5 kilometers down this single lane piece of broken pavement we stopped at a roadside stall and asked directions.

Indeed there were ruins in the area and at the old temple there was even a museum. With that we started off invigorated using the instructions that we were given. Lo and behold we eventually came to the Temple.

The place looked deserted but we wandered around for a while looking at the old Chedi and the river that skirted the back, which was now only a trickle in the dry season. The buildings were not all that spectacular, typical poor area temple with a locked Ordination Hall. We wandered over to a big building that we thought may be the museum but it was locked.

As we were about to go back out the gate and be on our way a underwear clad Monk appeared on a balcony. He asked if we wanted to see the museum. We said yes we would and with that he appeared with a huge ring of keys but now clothed.

As we walked the hundred or so yards to the museum he told us that they had to keep it locked because of the thefts of artifacts from Temples lately. He also asked us not to take pictures of any of the displays.

As we walked around looking at the stuff the Monk opened windows so we could see better. There was a wide range of things min their showcases some not that old but some very ancient. He told us that occasionally archaeologists from the government would for a day and catalog stuff but they did not stay long. The building was built in the Thaksin days but since the coupe they have no funding.

Personal Note:- I’m an amulet collector of sorts, like everyone in the North, and there were amulets that would have sold for thousands of US dollars in the collection.

When we finally went around the exhibits, with a constant narrative from the Monk, we came upon a pile. I cannot explain it any other way. It was a pile of artifacts in the corner of the museum .

The monk commented that he hoped that the people would succeed and soon vote in a new government that would look after historical artifacts and historic sites. This was the first time that I had ever heard a Monk, not directly related to the Reds, make such statements.

Personal Note:- As promised we will not divulge the location of this Temple or Museum. It is our heartfelt hope that some government will soon take the initiative to save and restore historic areas and relics like this. It is Temples that are old and worn, that is the basis of pure Buddhism. Temples with flashy and sparkly facades are often hollow, devoid of real history and become more touristy than needed.

If you look over my son's left shoulder you will see the pile. On the corners of the ceremonial chair there are three small Buddha images pulled from the pile.  My uneducated guess is they are at least 300-500 years old.  The monk said they didn't feel they should be thrown in the pile and they were retrieved and just put on the chair.