|
|
|
|
|
S.P. Publishing Group Co., Ltd.
11/1 Soi 3 Bamrungburi Rd., T. Prasingh,
A. Muang., Chiang Mai 50200
Tel. 053 - 814 455-6 Fax. 053 - 814 457
E-mail: guidelin@loxinfo.co.th
|
|
|
|
|
Tera Jan and the Tunnels of Wat Umong
The famous Wat Umong is so called after the tunnels that were built as the centerpiece of the temple. Such construction is unusual and exists in no other temples in Thailand, and the explanation of their existence is accounted for by the following remarkable legend.
In the time of King Kuena (sixth ruler of Chiang Mai after King Mengrai), Jan, an intelligent boy of 16, was ordained to the noviate and immediately displayed a precocious skill in understanding of both Buddhism and the Pali and Sanscrit languages. At the age of 19, fully ordained, he attended the dying abbott who had been his preceptor, and was given scrolls on which were inscribed mantras and other instructions, that by learning and using judiciously would enable him to acquire even greater knowledge and power.
After his preceptor's death, Phra Jan went to the forest on Doi Suthep to perform a ceremony using the mantras given him, and for three days and nights did nothing but chant and perform the other esoteric practices the ceremony required. It was then that a beautiful shining figure appeared before him, apparently the tewada of the mountain. She asked him why he was performing the ritual, and if he was steadfast in his intention of continuing to be a monk, and when satisfied with his reply, handed him a morsel she had been chewing, thus indicating her willingness to grant him what he wished. Unfortunately, overcome by her beauty and no doubt also affected by the privations of the three days and nights passed alone on the mountain, the young monk not only took the morsel but grasped the angelic being's hand. Outraged by this violation, the angel cursed him, condemning him to lose his wits at regular intervals.
And so it was. By far the most accomplished monk of his time and region, Tera Jan (as he duely became) served his King as an adviser, but every so often, afflicted by the angel's curse, he would wander off into the forest and be lost to his lord.
That was why King Kuena had Wat Umong with its tunnels built, so that his adviser had somewhere safe to shelter whenever the curse fell on him - and was close at hand again when he recovered.
|