Roi Et Attractions - Pottering Around

[DavidFL]

Roi Et seems to be one of the lesser known provinces for biking, but it has some really good attractions if you look around.

Roi Et is the province located in the middle part of northeast Thailand, and established over 200 years ago. It used to be a very large and glorious city named Saket Nakhon having 11 city gates and 11 satellite cities or subordinated communities under its ruling. Since there have been several developments in various aspects continually from the past thus changing it into a strange place where one can hardly trace its original features.

The history of Muang Roi Et started around late Ayutthaya period, i.e., a king of Laos with his people migrated from Champasak City to settle down in the area which is currently Amphoe Suwannaphum. Later, during the reign of King Taksin of Thon Buri era Muang Roi Et was moved to the present site while Muang Suwannaphum is still located at its original location till now. In addition to historical evidences, there have been findings of archaeological evidences showing that the area used to be the habitat of pre-historic people. It was also under the influence of ancient Khmer kingdom due to several findings of Khmer style archaeological sites as Ku Phra Kona, Amphoe Suwannaphum; Ku Kasing, Amphoe Kaset Wisai; Prang Ku, Amphoe Thawatchaburi
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Roi Et is full of interesting sites to check out.

Wat Prachakhom Wanaram / Wat Pa Kung

The "Borobodur" wat of Thailand is one recent, outstanding temple worthy of a look.

It is located in Si Somdet district approximately 25 kms west of Roi Et.

This is Thailand’s first natural sand pagoda, and was built as the monument of the 90th anniversary of the 60th year of Phra Thep Sutthi Mongkol.

This wat was inspired by a visit to real Borobudur in Indonesia by Luang Poo in 1988.

On his return to Thailand he told the story of Borobudur to his followers.

Money was raised & the construction was started in 1992 and completed on 28 October 2004.

The construction project was funded by donations of more than 100 million baht.

The outside walls are decorated with sandstone carvings depicting scenes from the previous lives of the Lord Buddha

The tip of the highest stupa is covered by plates of gold with a combined total weight of 101 baht (101 being roi et in Thai; 1 baht of gold is equal to 15.2g).

On May 1-3 every year there is a ceremony to celebrate the life Luang Poo Sri.

more to come on Roi Et

 

[DavidFL]

Roi Et had it's annual “Bun Pha Wet" festival as we were passing through. We missed the parades but caught part of the show by the lake.

if you miss the parades, there are displays of local culture & some dancing.

Eating kanom jeen is part of the festival & many places around town have tables set up for free meals.

 

[DavidFL]

Prang Ku / Nong Nu is an ancient Khmer "hospital" complex 10 kms from Roi Et

It is one of numerous Khmer 'hospitals', called Arogayasala, built during the reign of Jayavarman VII about 800 years ago.

Prang Ku comprises the main prang, a library, wall and entrance pavilions, and a pond outside of the wall.

The ruins are in good condition, especially the roof structure of the main prang which still maintains its three tiers and the lotus base of the pinnacle.

 

[DavidFL]

Wat Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkol, - The Great, Victorious and Auspicious Pagoda” is one of the largest chedis in Thailand.

This huge chedi is 101 meters long, 101 meters wide and 101 meters high and was built on a plot measuring 101 Rai, which is about 40 acres. The number 101 comes from the name of the province it is located in, namely Roi Et, which means 101 in Thai.

The chedi has several floors including on floor one, a large hall for multi-purpose use and meetings,

Floor two is The Sala for assembly of the monks, the pictures on the walls depict the life of the Lord Buddha,

on floor three is The Ubosot, which houses a collection of 101 life-like marble images of highly-respected monks of the Northeast and models of monks who have practiced well.

On floor four is a museum.

Finally on floor five is the winding staircase of 119 steps leading to the bell-shaped hall where the Buddha’s relics are enshrined.

The fairly new chedi was designed by the Department of Fine Arts, and was built to serve as a center of learning for Buddhist monks.

The very elegantly shaped chedi is painted in white color and very elaborately decorated in golden colored artwork in modern style.

Surrounding the chedi are eight smaller pagodas.

The finial on top of the chedi is made of 60 kilos of pure gold.

The grounds are huge

Wat Chai Monkhol is 80+ kms from Roi Et & closer to Mukdahan than Roi Et. Check it out on the way to Mukdahan?

 

[Goran Phuket]

I rode thru this province, had no idea of such attractive sites. Very beautiful.