A Trip to Hell and Back!

On Friday a couple dozen of us headed into the mountains again with Wat Mae Takhrai as our first destination. We had been given a steer towards this place by a friend that said it was a site worth visiting. Apparently, there was a large display of sculptural objects that represented one Buddhist’s vision of hell. Our interest was peaked and off we went in search of yet another temple with yet another unique group of objects on the temple grounds.

Wat Mae Takhrai is located several kilometres outside of Chiangmai in the foothills. It could be reached by Songtaew if you told the driver exactly where you wanted to go but, again, these types of places are much more accessible by scooter or car. The winding road eventually entered the small village where the temple is located with a typical Thai temple complex visible at the side of the road. I won’t say that “if you have seen one Thai temple, you have seen them all”, although it is getting to that point with us these days! They all have their own individual character but, at the same time, have very strong similarities.

The first thing that is noticed as you approach the village is a huge sculpture of a monk that rises into the air and can be seen from quite a distance. I tried to find out who is depicted by this large work of art but to no avail. If anyone knows the story behind it, please comment below. Up close and personal, it is even more spectacular. Near its base, another larger than life head is part of a small shrine. All are gilded with randomly placed small squares of gold, which I doubt are the genuine metal! In any case, it is something to see.

Across the road is the temple with its spacious grounds. Entering the main gate and walking a short distance past the temple brings you to the bizarre collection of gruesome outdoor sculptures. The first to greet you are three towering figures. It seems that saggy, drooping boobs are one of the artist’s main visions of a hellish afterlife, as you can see by looking at the photo! And Miley Cyrus, apparently your signature tongue thing really is a vision of hell, which many have already commented! Long, skinny tongues hanging down to their belly buttons were another outstanding feature of these three prominent figures.  

Moving into the main part of the display brought us to a random collection of people being stabbed, beheaded, impaled, hanged, put through the wringers and boiled and barbecued. It was certainly a sight to behold, especially since it was part of this beautiful temple’s grounds in a beautiful countryside setting in the middle of nowhere.

We left the village and wound our way up to The Flight of the Gibbon’s main headquarters, where we had a great lunch, while entertained by a small group playing traditional Thai instruments. It’s always interesting to see the variety of small villages that are scattered along these high mountain roads. And Northern Thailand is living up to its reputation for having some of the best, and most interesting, motorcycle touring roads in the world! The 150km tour made for another great day in the hills.