Ubon Ratchathani - Sights and Attractions

Sights and Attractions

The province is also renowned for its strong Buddhist tradition, particularly the practice of monks dwelling in the forest (ป่า Pah). Wat Nong Pa Pong, for example, is a Buddhist forest monastery which was established by Venerable Achan Chah Subhaddo (พระอาจารย์ชา สุภทฺโท) in 1954. Achan Chah’s style of teaching and personality had a unique ability to reach people of other nationalities. Many foreigners came to learn from, train under, and ordain with Achan Chah. Wat Pa Nanachat (International Forest Monastery) was then established in 1975. Since that time, Wat Pa Nanachat has become a respected Forest monastery, it currently includes under its umbrella over fifty monks representing twenty-three nationalities.

Other Buddhist temples, in and around the city include Wat Thung Si Mueang (Thai: วัดทุ่งศรีเมือง), located in the centre of the city which features an old wooden library on stilts in a small lake, and Wat Nong Bua (Thai: วัดหนองบัว) near the Big C mall. The latter features a chedi (temple) modelled on that at Bodh Gaya in India.

Wat Ban Na Mueang has a concrete three-headed elephant gate (visitors drive in beneath its legs), and a temple shaped like a large barge complete with giant concrete oarsmen. another temple at the rear is shaped like a houseboat, and sits in a lake with catfish to feed.

The Ratchathani Asok community on the south bank of the river have a Buddhist agricultural commune, with restored fishing boats mounted on boulders as houses, and a concrete central hall moulded and painted to look like a giant treehouse. They sell various products produced on their farms.

Wat Nong Pha Pong south of the city is a pleasant forest temple.

The city is the seat of a Catholic diocese, and also has a mosque for its Pakistani-descended Muslim population (at the eastern end of Thanon Upalisan), and a gurdwara for its Sikh community (Thanon Ubonkit in the central city).