The temple of a thousand steps, Isaan, Thailand

in #travel • 7 years ago

There is a temple situated on the top of an isolated hill about 10 km from my village Ban Hoy Deur in Chaiyaphum province, that is known locally as the temple of a thousand steps...

The Temple of 1000 steps (1).JPG

You won't find it, or my village come to that, on any map...

The Temple of 1000 steps (3).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (4).JPG

You rarely see anyone here apart from on Buddhist festival days...

The Temple of 1000 steps (6).JPG

As it is mostly far too hot here for anyone, including monks, to walk up the steps...

The Temple of 1000 steps (8).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (9).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (10).JPG

A lot of it's charm is that if you can make the effort to climb it...

The Temple of 1000 steps (11).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (12).JPG

You are rewarded by panoramic views of the country around...

The Temple of 1000 steps (14).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (15).JPG

And you are nearly always the only ones there...

The Temple of 1000 steps (16).JPG

The hand rails of the steps are intricately carved and painted Nagas with their tails in the mouths of the next ones below...

The Temple of 1000 steps (18).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (19).JPG

Nagas are the dragon/snake spirit guardians of the rivers and lakes in Thai Buddhism...

The Temple of 1000 steps (20).JPG

You see them at pretty well every Thai Buddhist temple...

The Temple of 1000 steps (22).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (23).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (24).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (31).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (32).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (37).JPG

As you can see, the view from the top is very impressive...

The Temple of 1000 steps (25).JPG

And so is the temple...

The Temple of 1000 steps (28).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (33).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (34).JPG

Another feature of Thai Buddhist temples are intricately carved Teak door and window panels...

The Temple of 1000 steps (29).JPG

Also bell towers...

The Temple of 1000 steps (30).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (38).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (39).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (41).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (45).JPG

Inside the temple there are many colourful images of Buddha...

The Temple of 1000 steps (42).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (43).JPG

And offerings of flowers, incense etc. left to him...

The Temple of 1000 steps (44).JPG

Now all that is left to do...

The Temple of 1000 steps (46).JPG

After ringing the bells a few times...

Is to go back down again...

The Temple of 1000 steps (47).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (48).JPG

The Temple of 1000 steps (49).JPG

Many thanks to Fuc, my wife's eldest son for giving some scale to these photos...

I hope you have enjoyed coming on this little journey with us, feel free to comment, upvote and resteem if you like...

The Temple of 1000 steps (50).JPG

#photography #buddhism #thailand
7 years ago in #travel by
$0.32
  • Past Payouts $0.32
  • - Author $0.28
  • - Curators $0.04
42 votes
Reply 3
Sort:  
  • Trending
    • [-]
     7 years ago 

    This post recieved an upvote from minnowpond. If you would like to recieve upvotes from minnowpond on all your posts, simply FOLLOW @minnowpond

    $0.00
      Reply
      [-]
       7 years ago 

      Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by zaphodb from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

      $0.00
        Reply