That Phanom

During my Sakon trip, my local friends took me to visit some nearby sites, including That Phanom. It is a cedi located near the banks of the Mekhong River in Nakhorn Phanom province. Many Thais in the area consider it to be one of the most sacred monuments in Thailand.

It is quite tall. You have to take a picture from a distance in order to capture all of it.

Here's the phallic pillar outside the courtyard. It is a symbol of fertility.

 People come from all over the Northeast to worship here. Here are a few beating the prayer gong.

These folks are rubbing gold leaf on the entry to the cedi.

I like the artwork on these doors.

These carved figures are part-way up the stuppa.

Here we are in the corner of the temple courtyard.

The most interesting part of this temple complex to me are the Thai proverbs that are illustrated on the walls surrounding the temple. Here are some of my favorites with a direct translation of the title and a brief explanation of the meaning.

 "Riding an elephant to catch grasshoppers."
This basically means to overdo something. Kind of like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

 "Let the tiger go in the woods, let the fish go in the water."
This is a warning about allowing your enemies to return to their environment. If you do so, they may become stronger and come back to harm you later.

 "A toad riding in a litter."
 This is when a person of lower class becomes wealthy and then shows their poor manners in social situations. Think Larry the Cable Guy at a black-tie affair. 
Similar to saying a tiger can't change his stripes.

 "Blind grasping an elephant."
Each blind person will think the elephant is different because they can't grasp it all at once. It has to do with being unable to see the full picture.

 "If you don't know the tiger is there, you dock your boat."
Look before you leap.

 "If someone new to water is paddling the boat, don't drag your feet in the water."
This is pretty self-explanatory.

 "Flee the tiger, find the crocodile."
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

 "Playing music for the buffalo."
Do something that will have no benefit or for no reason. A little bit like the idea of casting pearls before swine.

"Love your buffalo, tie it up. Love your child, spank it."
Spare the rod, spoil the child.

Anyways, I really enjoyed these pictures illustrating some of the Thai proverbs. And That Phanom was a nice place to visit as well.