Opposite our hotel is Wat Rachasittaram or Wat Plup (วัดพลับ). Not many people know that this quiet little temple built sometime in Ayutthaya, was renovated by King Rama I of Ratanakosin Era over 200 years ago (Bangkok) to accommodate his well respected Vipasana Teaching monk, who later became the fourth supreme patriarch of the Buddhist priests (Suk). He was so well respected for Vipasana teaching that King Rama I sent his sons who later became King Rama II, III, and IV and nephews to study with him at this very temple.
In the temple, among the monk’s dwelling area, is the museum of His Holiness the Patriarch (Suk), a small old half wooden half concrete building where vipassana teaching classes are held to these days.
Here at Wat Plup, our grandmother, Khun Ying Wongs Indra Vijit , supported the temple to such an extent that after her death, her’s and her husband’s cremated remains have been kept in one of the Chedis at the temple. For many Buddhists, the cremated remains of their loved ones are normally kept inside the wall or Chedis at the temples for remembrance and being at the temples means their relatives can still come and make merit for them as often as the 4 Buddhist holy days each month of the year or just at Thai New Year or Song Kran.
His Holiness the Patriarch (Suk) is also widely known for his kindness that it was known that even wild fowls were tame at his presence.
