Wat Bang Phra
Wat Bang Phra translates into English as the "Monastery of the Riverbank Buddha Image," a reference to the temple's history as a spot where a revered Buddha image from Ayuthaya was recovered from a boat which sank in the Nakhon Chaisi River alongside where the monastery was founded.
Former abbot Phra Udom Prachanart, more commonly known as Luang Phor Pern, was a famous meditation monk well known for his potent incantations and his knowledge of the body of Buddhist canons (Tripitaka) and most of all his mastery of protective sak yant (sacred Thai tattoos).
In 1953, feeling he needed further withdrawal, renunciation and solitary meditation, wandered in the forests of a remote area of Kanchanaburi Province on the Myanmar-Thailand border.
After Luang Phor Pern learned of the villagers’ predicament, he offered katha (incantations) and sak yant to protect them.
From that point forward, no one who received the monk’s protection was ever attacked by a tiger or other wild animal, earning Luang Phor Pern a powerful reputation as a master of incantations and tattoos.
[1] Returning to Wat Bang Phra many years later, he was made abbot used temple donations to build a bridge over the adjacent river so that farmers could more easily bring their crops to market in Nakhon Chaisi or beyond, and constructed the local public hospital that today bears his name.
As his reputation for wisdom and loving kindness grew, thousands of Thais travelled to Wat Bang Phra to receive the blessings of the great monk and to become his lifelong disciples.
On this day devotees gather in the parlours of their Sak Yant masters to honor them and get their tattoos blessed and re-empowered.
Before entering the temple, the person will purchase flowers and incense (70 Baht as of Feb 2011) as an offering to Buddha and to support the Wat.
However, it is important to note that according to the "UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic" there are no recorded cases of contracting HIV or AIDS from a tattoo needle due to the absence of a reservoir inside the needle containing enough blood to deliver the virus into the body to pass infection.
