ANTB66H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter Fate of Rural Hell: Theravada, Good And Evil, Lifesize
Document Summary
1975: benedict anderson reached wat phai rong wua, a massive temple complex in rural thailand. Wat phai rong wua was conceived by buddhist monk luang phor khom. Benedict anderson"s first thoughts: he felt he had wandered into a demented disneyland. Wat phai rong wua: designed as a cautionary museum: gruesome statues depict violent and torturous scenes that may depict what hell may be like. Anderson, over the next few decades, keeps returning to this place as he"s transfixed by the unusual amalgamation of objections: includes largest metal cast buddha figure in the world, the palace of a hundred spires. Benedict anderson first visited wat phai rong wua in 1975: to reach it, one could not go there by road but only by a boat up the ta chin. River and then veering into a tributary which ended up as a short, new canal alongside the extensive grounds of the wat: middle of nowhere but it"s really worth a look! .
