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Tourists and pilgrims come together for daily visits to Wat Tham Seua.
Tiger Cave Temple or Wat Tam Seua is a Buddhist monastery and a retreat for meditation; here monks and nuns devote themselves to the Buddha's teaching or dharma in an attempt to break the cycle of death and re-birth and escape the bondage of the succession of lifetimes. It has grown from small beginnings to a thriving centre of Buddhist Vipassana meditation practice. More and more people are coming to visit the monastery as tourists but we recommend you to experience, just for few moments, the sense of purpose and spiritual devotion that the community shares. The temple is one of the most interesting complexes in southern Thailand , as the monks live and worship within a maze of natural caves in an overgrown jungle valley…
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Wat Tham Suea, located in Krabi town is easily reached from Bangkok on a comfy plane trip or by bus from Ao Nang. However, after having taken a leisurely stroll around the grounds main complex, one must make a challenging 1237 step climb to reach the Temple at the top of the 600M limestone cliff in order to take in the 360 degree views from the top, a must-do activity on a trip to the temple.
I must confess that the challenging assent was one of the reasons for my visit to the site and the second, perhaps, my fascination with the mix of history and legend that's associated with the site. It all started with Ajahn Jumnien, the fifty-one year old head monk of the monastery who as a young monk studied under a leading spiritual teacher of the time who became his Guru and taught him the art of folk-medicinal healing.
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Ajahn Jumnien founded this monastery after travelling with one hundred monks across southern Thailand from Surat Thani Province to Krabi. The Ao Luk mountain chain's deep natural amphitheatre, entirely enclosed by towering limestone formations and forest was the perfect spot, as it could only be reached by climbing a sheer rock face.
Nowadays a concrete staircase makes this empowering retreat much more easily accessible, although less secluded. It was named Wat Tham Seua or Tiger Cave Monastery because a tiger once lived in one of the caves.
Strolling in the main ground of the religious complex, it's possible to see statues and shrines in erected in honour of Mahayana Bodhisattva's and Hindu deities; saints - sages and monks - also have their fair share of sculptural representations. I was particularly surprised to see a small shrine for Ganesh, the popular elephant headed Hindu deity and a large statue of Kuan Yin, the Mahayana Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. In the meditation hall I was silently welcomed by a nun's gift, a saffron coloured bracelet or sai-sin worn to offer protection. The hall is built into a long, shallow limestone cave where many golden Buddha images in various postures, styles and sizes are displayed on the right side of the hall; a few meters from the entrance on the same side a short stairway that leads to the Tiger Cave , the former haunt of the tiger. A golden garlanded statue honours the animal in a natural rock shrine along the way up to the small cave and at the back a Buddha footprint symbol sits on a gilded platform, locked behind a gate.
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After visiting the cave I sat in front of the main Buddha altar in the main hall and contemplated the surrounding ambience. Composed monks and nuns ceremonially distributed their food for their morning meal. I decided to have my packed lunch. The Hall was bustling with life as would any indoor plaza, but the main difference was that there, peace and silence reigned – nuns and monks were busy with daily chores, an aged nun sat absorbed in a Buddhist manuscript.
The time for the sheer climb arrived. I started to count the steps but as I stopped a number of times, either from total exhaustion or to enjoy the
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various breathtaking viewpoints I lost count. Golden stupas patched both sides of the stairway. Despite the clouds working as a sunscreen, this was powerless against the high humidity and heat. On the way to the top I particularly enjoyed the rest taken by the side of the statue of a smiling sage wearing a tiger skin accompanied by a pint sized tiger statue.
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Once on top I was rewarded with a refreshing rain shower and the misty 360 degree scenery: Limestone karsts formations, a plateau of plantations, Krabi Town , the lagoon and in the background, the Andaman coast. A tall Buddha statue, gilded stupas and other religious relics made it the perfect place for meditation if one wishes to follow the footprints of Buddha.
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