Thai Temple Wat Mahabut & Mae Nak Shrine

06.11.2014 - 06.11.2014 36 °C

Thailand is known well for its beautiful and marvellous beaches and islands as well as other natural wonders including its rich history which include the royal dynasty that rule the country until today. The temple or wat in Thailand are distinctively Thai where at one glance, one would able to tell confidently that it is for sure a Thai temple. So, what is it that made Wat Mahabut in Bangkok steeply different from other temples in Thailand? If you have not heard of Wat Mahabut, well its time to check out this Thai temple when you are in Bangkok. The temple is located along the Phra Khanong canal and accessible by road on On Nut Road Soi 7. Wat Mahabut is special on its own because this temple is associated to the legendary Mae Nak, a spirit of a Thai lady, wife and mother of an unborn child, who was said to have lived at one of the wooden house along the Phra Khanong canal. The story of Mae Nak according to sources started with Nak, a beautiful lady who was married to Maak. Maak was an army officer and was sent to the war during the 1800s. While Maak was away at the war field, Nak was pregnant with Maak's child. While Maak was still away at war, she was to deliver her first child but suffered from complications which in the end led to her death along with her baby. She was so in love with Mak and her first baby that she would not want to leave peacefully to the other world. Instead her spirit and that of her baby lingered around in the wooden house along the Phra Khanong canal which she stayed with Maak after their marriage. Maak returned from the war one fine day and was rowing on a sampan back to his home at Phra Khanong canal, happily reunited with his beloved Nak and his first child. Maak did not have knowledge of what has happened while he was away and that the Nak and the baby he embraced were actually their spirits. The villagers who were aware of what happened to Nak and the baby noticed how Mak thought both were still alive and their attempt to advise Maak to accept the reality were greeted with angry tones. Nak in wanting to ward off such attempts by the villagers in telling Maak the truth killed those who did so. Maak soon came to his senses and began to see what actually happened. One day, while Nak was preparing food, she accidentally dropped a lime on the floor and with her ghost power, she stretched her arm to reach the lime. She did not realised that Maak has returned home from elsewhere and that Maak saw with his own eyes of what happened. He was so afraid that he ran away but was chased after by Nak. He managed to reached at Wat Mahabut to seek help. Nak, being a spirit of the other world would not be able to enter the sacred wat and she shouted for Maak to go back home with her but failed to convinced him. She started to get very angry and caused chaos throughout the village. A ghostbuster was called in to the temple to capture the spirit of Mae Nak in which he successfully did and the spirit was contained in a jar which was then thrown into the canal. Years later, someone found the jar and accidentally released the Mae nak's spirit while opening up the jar. Later, it was told that a monk by the name of Luang Phu Thor, was called in to calm the spirit of Mae Nak where he dug up the grave of Mae Nak and with his skilful meditation power, he managed to overpower Mae Nak's angry spirit and place her to where she supposed to belong to. The legendary ghost of Mae Nak was retold to the people through a Thai blockbuster movie Nang Nak, which was a hit in Thailand in 1999 and a sequel to this movie was released in 2013 on Songkran holiday which was yet another blockbuster hit under the name of Phi Maak Phra Khanong. Getting to the Wat Mahabut off On Nut Road Soi 7, the narrow lane (soi) no.7 was lined with multiple shops patronised by fortune tellers for those who wanted to seek for informations about their life journey ahead. The shops were located on the left of the lane heading towards Wat Mahabut. Reaching the compound of Wat Mahabut, the Mae Nak shrine was located towards the far right of the Phra Khanong canal. There were 2 entrance to the shrine in which the main entrance was fronting the Phra Khanong canal. To access to the main entrance, there was an altar placed on the riverbanks for those who wanted to offer prayers before stepping into Mae Nak shrine. Along the Phra Khanong canal, there were several houses being built on the riverbanks and Mae Nak and Maak were said to be living at one of those houses along the Phra Khanong riverbanks. From the main entrance, walking towards the shrine, there was a section before the main hall of the shrine which placed some portraits of Mae Nak drawn by artists fitted into different frame sizes with some garlands decorating these portraits frames. At the main hall, there was an area on the left in which those who wanted to seek blessings or wishes from Mae Nak can purchase several items available as offerings. The main shrine also had several portraits of Mae Nak and a sculpture of Mae Nak and her baby. There were also woman clothes covered with transparent plastics and also an altar. It was said that those who visited Mae Nak shrine in particular women would seek to have a safe passage should they deliver their baby and while men seeking to avoid serving in the military would be here to have their wish fulfilled. The Mae Nak shrine remained one of the very mysterious place in Bangkok and though no one could say for sure whether such characters or persons existed or otherwise, majority of Thais never disputed the story of Mae Nak and Maak. It is still a place worth a short visit if you are in Bangkok for work or holiday.

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