Wat Phra Nang Sang

Wat Phra Nang Sang is the oldest temple in Phuket, dating back more than 200 years, and was built on the site of the famous battle in 1785 between the people of Phuket and the Burmese invaders. A statue of Thao Thep Kassatri and Thao Sri Sunthon (known as Chan and Mook before the King gave them these names for their valiant defense of Phuket) lies in the temple grounds - a larger one can be seen at the so called "Heroines Monument" - a traffic circle on the main road between the airport and Phuket City.



The temple is close to the center of Thalang town which was once the principal town in Phuket (see location on Google Earth). We have already visited Wat Phra Tong (which lies a bit further north) and Wat Sri Sunthon (a little south of Thalang), but this was our first visit to Wat Phra Nang Sang. Will no doubt go back - we could not enter the main temple as it is undergoing restoration work, so there's still more to see! The grounds are quite large, it's worth taking your time.





There's a lot of history here. My daughter was amazed to see a mummified Monk who died about 50 years ago I think. Not sure she could believe she was seeing a dead Monk. There is another building with 3 large Buddha images made of tin - one of these being the largest tin Buddha in the world. Phuket was until recently a major tin mining center and this helped to make Phuket quite wealthy.





Another story says that the temple was built (or ordered to be built) by a princess who was due to be executed, although she had been framed and was innocent. When she was executed she bled white bood, thus showing her purity. There is also said to be (buried, I guess) an ancient manuscript showing the location of treasure - what the Burmese were after in 1785.



Well, if you like temples (as I do) you can spend a day out in the Thalang area visiting Wat Phra Nang Sang, Wat Sri Sunthon and Wat Phra Tong.