Wat Uposatharam (Wat Bot Manorom)

Wat Uposatharam formerly named Wat Bot Manorom, is sometimes called Wat Bot. It is an old temple on the Sakae Krang Riverside, on Ko Thepho, in the Mueang Municipality area. From the municipal fresh market, cross the bridge to the temple which is on the east side of the river. The interesting things to see include mural paintings in the ordination hall and wihan, which were made in the early Rattanakosin era. The paintings in the ordination hall were elaborately made, depicting the biography of Lord Buddha from the time when he was born until he died. In the wihan, there are paintings of Lord Buddha, preaching to gods in Heaven and the scene when he was resolving to enter nirvana. On the upper part of the wall, there is a picture of a gathering of monks, switching with Phat Yot, a long-handled fan of an ecelesiastical rank, which seems to show respect to the principal Buddha image. On the outside wall in front of the wihan, there is a picture of Lord Buddha’s cremation and the picture of villagers’ ways of life along the Buddhist concepts. It is believed to have been made by craftsmen of a later time. In addition, inside Wat Uposatharam, there are other interesting things to see, such as Sema, a leaf-like boundary sign made of red stone, in front of the ordination hall, a cabinet to keep Buddhist scriptures and a storage closet painted with the floral Kanok vine pattern. In addition, there is a Bat, a monk alms-bowl, with the lid decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay which was given by King Rama V and made by Chang Sip Mu (the Ten Departments of Craftsmen), as well as a Hong - Hamsa or Swan - on top of the column. There are also many attractive forms of architecture to visit such as the Octagonal Mondop which is a combination of the Western and Thai styles and has a decoration made of stucco, looking like climbing plants on the window frames; a high-relief cement Buddha image which is situated outside the building; three chedis of 3 periods comprising hexagonal chedi of the Ayutthaya period, a chedi with twelve angles of the Rattanakosin period, and a bell-shaped chedi of the Sukhothai period; Uthai Phutthasapha Conference Hall which is a pavilion in a typical Thai style, used as a praying hall, having a gable with stucco relief decoration; and Phae Bot Nam, a floating ordination hall in front of the temple which was built to receive King Rama V when he visited the North Circle in 1906. It was formerly a twin raft-house with Cho Fa - a gable apex, and Bai Raka - a leaf-shaped roof-edging, like other ordination halls. On the gable, there is a circle with Pali scripts reading “Su Agata Te Maha Raja” which means Maha Raja - great king - comes well. Later, in 1976, it was repaired to be one 2-storeyed building, including a raised platform, with a hip roof. The circle was moved to place in the middle of the gable. This Phae Bot Nam is used in religious rites such as weddings, ordinations, funerals, and various merit-making occasions.