“History” was my minor subject when I studied at the university. I’m interested to learn the ways of life of people in the past. And I also love to visit archaeological sites, so I can study their cultures and beliefs via the sites.
“Mueng Kao Chaiburi Forest Park” is one of the historical tourist attractions in Phatthalung province, in the South of Thailand. The site is surrounded by wonderful mountains and beautiful forests.
There are amazing sculptures, ancient Buddha statues, and ruined chedi. They are valuable for historical study. That’s why I love this place.
As temples were the center of the Thai community from the old days till today, you will find many ruined chedi from the past.
And this one is one of the good examples…
Apart from temples, each community in the past built a city shrine that was believed to be the place for gathering angels to protect the city from any dangers.
This one looks sacred, right?
The golden Buddha statue sitting among nice nature is still magnificent even though the building was ruined due to the long times and only the old bricks can be seen.
Another huge Buddha statue that looks outstanding......
The below sculpture is the first ruler of this ancient city. We remembrance him on his bravery who led the soldiers to fight with enemies. So, we pay respect, praying, and worship him with beautiful garlands.
(You may see how we dressed during that period.)
In the past, boats were the main transportation for Thai people. The following one is a mini ancient cargo ship. (for demonstration) It has a beautiful design and looks impressive.
Um! When seeing these giant trees, I think you can imagine how old this site is...
Can you calculate how old they are?
pํ.s. We believe that there are angels staying in these trees to protect the trees and forest, so we wrapped the big trees with colored clothes as special marks that these trees are sacred and show our respect to angels.
(I think it's a wise idea of our ancient people as this would probably prevent people from cutting the trees due to the fear of any punishment from the angels, according to our beliefs.)
