Wat Sri Chum: "Be My Guest"

ထုိင္းႏုိင္ငံ၊ လန္ပန္းျမိဳ႕က ျမန္မာဘုန္းႀကီးေက်ာင္း Wat Sri Chum အေၾကာင္း ေဆာင္းပါး ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
တခ်ိန္က ဧရာ၀တီမဂၢဇင္း ယဥ္ေက်းမႈ စာမ်က္ႏွာမွာ ေဖာ္ျပခ့ဲဖူးပါတယ္။

By Aung Zaw/Lampang
NOVEMBER, 2002 - VOLUME 10 NO.9
The Irrawaddy

Nearly destroyed by fire 10 years ago, Wat Sri Chum is being revived only because the temple’s abbot cares enough to see it happen.

Surrounded by Banyan trees, Wat Sri Chum is also known as nyaung wine khuang in Burmese (nyaung means Banyan). Built in 1890 by a wealthy merchant named U Yo, Wat Sri Chum is another of Lampang’s Burmese temples shrouded in mystery.

The Thai prince, Norananhachai Chawalit gave U Yo permission to build the temple on a site that was believed to have once been the location for an ancient temple. Specialist Burmese craftsmen from Mandalay came to Thailand to help in its construction. Long considered a classic example of Burmese temple architecture, with tiered wooden roofs and delicate carvings on gables, the temple is registered as a national treasure with Thailand’s Department of Fine Arts.

Ten years ago, Wat Sri Chum’s outstanding vihara, or prayer hall, caught fire. As a guide book records: "The sad remains of Wat Sri Chum, most of which was tragically razed by fire in January 1992. Little remains of the vihara except for blackened porches over the two flights of steps which lead to the building. Rumor has it that the fire was started by a monk who accidentally set his blanket alight by sleeping too close to an electric fire."

There were many rumors about the cause of the fire. One is that after a war of words between the temple’s trustees and the abbot, one of them lit the fire in spite. But with so many different accounts, it seems no one will know the real truth.

After the fire, U Pannavamsa, once head of the temple, returned to Burma. He passed in 1995 and after his death a series of acting abbots looked after Wat Sri Chum. The abbots were selected by trustees from the Burmese embassy in Bangkok and the Thai clergy. In the past, many Burmese and Thai people would visit. U Pannavamsa, who lived in Lampang for decades, would preach in Burmese while Burmese born migrants who had settled in Thailand would respond in Thai.

Since the fire, Burmese people, Thai officials and local Thai clergy have all shown varying levels of interest in the temple’s restoration. Officials in Rangoon also intervened in the appointment of an abbot. In 1999, a Thai monk, U Sidhijodikarana Sakkanyanoh, also known as Luang Phor Chaleo, was appointed and remains head of the temple today.

Now 63, Luang Phor Chaleo was once a successful Thai businessman. "I was a general manager before and I had three wives," he says. Luang Phor Chaleo entered the monkhood ten years ago.

Upon entering his prayer room, visitors immediately notice the computer behind his desk. Unlike most Burmese monks who usually receive laymen on the floor, Luang Phor Chaleo relaxes in his decidedly Western chair. He jokes, chuckles and is glad to speak about his temple and his Burmese connection. Luang Phor Chaleo normally surprises foreign visitors with his competence in basic spoken English. He also ran English classes in the temple with a teacher named Alexander Sebastien, originally from Rangoon. Complete with an e-mail address, Luang Phor Chaleo is a monk of the 21st century.

With a wry smile and an easy-going manner, Luang Phor Chaleo has plenty to say. Usually poised with a humble sense of patience, the strain in his voice and stress in his face is discernable when he discusses the ruined temple.

Restoration after the fire became Luang Phor Chaleo’s responsibility. He says the Thai government has offered 23 million baht to rebuild the temple. "But I still need another 12 million," he says, adding that he needs 50,000 baht each month to run the temple. He has launched an aggressive campaign to raise funds for its revival.

He has taken his campaign beyond Lampang. On occasion, he has asked visitors to advertise Wat Sri Chum on their own websites. And now, Luang Phor Chaleo is working a on a Wat Sri Chum website to attract further attention. He also wants to draw more tourists to the temple. He is eager to maintain Wat Sri Chum’s standing as a "Burmese Temple" and believes this has some appeal to visitors. His "Be My Guest" flyer, reads: "Because this Wat Sri Chum temple is a traditional Burmese temple we have many Burmese monks tending to the physical tasks, to make colors and sounds for this real-life Burmese temple."

Only a monk with a business background like Luang Phor Chaleo would be able to handle advertising, fundraising and tourism promotion on top of regular callings. Thus, some local Burmese and Thai people say that he is more interested in doing temple "business" than religion.

A constant networker and entrepreneur, Luang Phor Chaleo the general manager-turned-abbot approached fruit vendors to set up in front of his temple, "So we get the money from them." Local papers have been critical, arguing that Luang Phor Chaleo has not maintained the front exterior of the temple. He shrugs off the criticism and rationally argues, "We have to survive."

In the past, local newspapers have published other articles critical of his temple, particularly the Burmese monks. In one paper, a front-page photo showed Burmese monks playing chinlon, a Burmese game played with a woven rattan ball used in the Thai and Malaysian sport takraw. He argues that playing sport is a minor infraction of Buddhist tenets, adding that some Thai monks behave worse.

For Burmese monks living at Wat Sri Chum, Luang Phor Chaleo has organized documents that allow them to stay in Thailand for two years and can then be renewed. At Wat Sri Chum, he has 19 Burmese and five Thai monks.

Luang Phor Chaleo spoke at length about his temple but little about wider issues of faith. When asked if he had ever been to Burma, the abbot replied, "I have been to Tachilek," referring to the Shan border town opposite Mae Sai in northern Thailand. Then he laughed: "It’s too expensive to go to Rangoon."

On the prickly issue of shaving the eyebrows of Burmese monks, he says he didn’t care either way. "I think they still receive alms [from Thais] anyway," he said shaking his head. Customarily, Thai monks shave their eyebrows while monks in Burma do not. Burmese monks insist that Buddha never asked monks to shave their eyebrows. "There were many rumors and hearsay," he explains. Instead, he recounts his own version of the story: When the ancient Thai capital Ayutthaya was under siege by Burmese soldiers, some soldiers posed as monks to enter Ayutthaya and gather intelligence. Aware of the infiltration, Thai abbots were ordered to shave their eyebrows so that the spying Burmese would be conspicuous.

"It’s true!" insists Luang Phor Chaleo to his visitors who were listening in, but obviously not convinced.

Even today, rumors persist that Rangoon sends monks to Thailand to gather intelligence as spies. Luang Phor Chaleo and some of the Burmese monks at Wat Pafang dismiss the allegation: "There are so many rumors but no proof," says Luang Phor Chaleo.

One of the Thai monks at Wat Sri Chum said that Burmese people are portrayed in the Thai media as warmongers from a communist country. "But I think we can distinguish between the people of Burma and the [military] government," he explains.

"Burmese are civilized and nice people," Luang Phor Chaleo adds.

Luang Phor Chaleo has earned respect from many Burmese monks. When asked about Luang Phor Chaleo, a Burmese monk from Wat Pafang said: "He takes care of Burmese monks and loves them."