The principal Dhammayuttika monastery of Udon Thani, a third-class royal monastery on Thanon Pho Niyom beside Nong Prachak, founded in B.E. 2449 by the provincial commissioner because the new town had only one temple, and named after him by the Supreme Patriarch.
วัดโพธิสมภรณ์ · Wat Phothisomphon
| Official name | วัดโพธิสมภรณ์ — Wat Phothisomphon |
|---|---|
| Where | Mak Khaeng, Mueang Udon Thani, Udon Thani |
| Royal temple class | Third class royal temple, Saman (ชั้นตรี ชนิดสามัญ) Resolutions of the Sangha Supreme Council published by the National Office of Buddhism at mahathera.onab.go.th, which name the temple repeatedly and identically as วัดโพธิสมภรณ์ พระอารามหลวง ชั้นตรี ชนิดสามัญ — including the resolution of ครั้งที่ ๑๓/๒๕๖๑ appointing its abbot |
| Monastic order | Dhammayuttika Nikaya |
| Ancient monument | Carried in the national monument register; no gazette registration recorded The Fine Arts Department carries this temple in its national register as monument 0010689 and codes the row at status 0 — โบราณสถาน, an ancient monument — with no gazette instrument attached, no land parcel and no architectural description. That is not the same thing as registration and this page does not call it registration. The department's history field for the row is also truncated at source: it breaks off mid-sentence at ใช้เวลาสร้างอยู่ประมาณ 1 ปี ใ. |
| Coordinates | 17.413725, 102.778458 Fine Arts Department register, monument 0010689 |
Thai temple histories mix two different kinds of statement, and this guide keeps them apart. What a register, a gazette entry, an inscription or a dated royal act shows is one thing. What the chronicles and the temple itself hold is another, and it is worth telling as what it is.
The ages the Tourism Authority gives for two of the images — about 600 years for Phra Phuttha Ratsami and about 1,300 years for the laterite Buddha — are its figures and are not corroborated by any other source read here. The second sits awkwardly with the same sentence's description of that image as Lopburi-style work, a style conventionally placed several centuries later than 1,300 years ago. This page reports the Authority's wording and flags the tension rather than adjusting it.
Wat Phothisomphon stands in Tambon Mak Khaeng, in the middle of Udon Thani, on the western side of Nong Prachak. It is the seat of the Dhammayuttika ecclesiastical governor of the province, and the Sangha Supreme Council's own published resolutions describe it in a fixed formula: วัดโพธิสมภรณ์ พระอารามหลวง ชั้นตรี ชนิดสามัญ — a third-class royal monastery of the ordinary sub-rank.
It exists because of a piece of provincial administration. The Fine Arts Department's register records that in B.E. 2449, late in the fifth reign, มหาอำมาตย์ตรี พระยาศรีสุริยราชวรานุวัตร (โพธิ์ เนติโพธิ์) — the Samuha Thesaphiban, the royal commissioner for Monthon Udon — looked at the municipal district of the new town of Udon Thani, saw that it contained exactly one temple, Wat Matchimawat, and decided that it should have a second.
The site he chose is described in the register with the eye of a man picking ground rather than a shrine: south of Nong Na Kluea, a broad lake heavy with rock salt and full of fish and crocodiles, on flat scrubland that was quiet, near water, and neither too far from the village nor on top of it. The lake was afterwards renamed Nong Prachak, for Krom Luang Prachak Sinlapakhom, who had founded the town. He gathered the people of Ban Mak Khaeng to clear enough of the scrub for monks' quarters and a sala for teaching, which also served for the yearly oath of allegiance sworn by the government offices, and the building took about a year.
The department's own history text stops mid-sentence at that point — a truncation at source rather than an editorial choice — so what happened between the first year and the present is not documented in the register. What the Tourism Authority of Thailand adds is the name: the villagers called it Wat Mai, the new temple, and the eleventh Supreme Patriarch of the Rattanakosin era, Krom Luang Chinnawon Siriwat, later gave it the name Wat Phothisomphon in memory of its founder, whose given name was Pho — the Bodhi tree.
The temple's place in the twentieth century is Dhammayut and it is not a small one. The Sangha Supreme Council's resolutions record the abbot of Wat Phothisomphon holding the office of เจ้าคณะจังหวัดอุดรธานี (ธรรมยุต), the Dhammayuttika ecclesiastical governor of the province, and list the temple as the first of the province's Dhammayut meditation centres. That is the tradition of Luang Pu Man and the north-eastern forest lineage in its city form, and it is the practical reason this temple, rather than an older one, is the one a visitor to Udon Thani is most often sent to.
The objects the Tourism Authority singles out are worth knowing about in advance because two of them carry ages nobody else corroborates. Phra Phuttha Ratsami, the principal image in the ordination hall, is bronze in the Maravijaya posture and given as about six hundred years old. Behind the hall, in a wall niche, is a laterite Buddha in the Varada gesture that the same page calls Lopburi-style and about 1,300 years old — two statements that do not sit comfortably together. North of the ordination hall stands a Bodhi tree grown from a cutting the government of Sri Lanka gave to the government of Thailand in B.E. 2493, and a mondop holding a laterite replica of the Buddha's footprint said to be over two hundred years old. The Phra Borommathat Thamma Chedi, built in B.E. 2548, is a three-storey museum chedi holding relics, images, the Tipitaka and the remains and likenesses of past teachers of the lineage. BAANLYY does not represent this temple and nothing here is legal or religious advice.
Phra Phuttha Ratsami — the principal image of the ordination hall, bronze, in the Maravijaya posture, which the Tourism Authority gives as about six hundred years old.
A laterite Buddha in the Varada gesture set in a niche in the rear wall of the ordination hall, which the same source calls Lopburi-style and about 1,300 years old.
The Bodhi tree north of the ordination hall, grown from a cutting given by the government of Sri Lanka to the government of Thailand in B.E. 2493.
A mondop north of the ordination hall holding a laterite replica of the Buddha's footprint, described by the Tourism Authority as over two hundred years old.
Phra Borommathat Thamma Chedi, built in B.E. 2548 — a museum chedi on three floors holding relics of the Buddha, Buddha images, the Tipitaka, teachings, relics of arahant disciples and likenesses of the lineage's past teachers.
Nong Prachak immediately to the east, the lake the temple was sited beside when it was still called Nong Na Kluea and was known for its rock salt.
This is a working place of worship for millions of people rather than an attraction, and it is treated as one at the gate. Where a figure below is blank, no source we are prepared to cite states it.
| Hours | Not established from an official source. |
|---|---|
| Admission | Not established from an official source. |
| Dress | A working royal monastery in the centre of the city and the seat of the province's Dhammayut sangha. Shoulders and knees covered, shoes off before entering the ordination hall, and the museum chedi holds relics rather than exhibits. |
| Photography | No source we found states a rule, so we print none. |
| Getting there | Tambon Mak Khaeng, Amphoe Mueang Udon Thani, Udon Thani 41000, on the west side of Nong Prachak. The Tourism Authority gives a telephone number of +66 4234 7146, lists parking on site, and puts the temple about a kilometre from the provincial hall, opposite Nong Prachak Sinlapakhom. |
Every temple reference repeats claims nobody has checked. These are the ones we went looking for and could not stand up, listed so you know exactly where this page stops.
A third-class royal monastery of the ordinary sub-rank — พระอารามหลวง ชั้นตรี ชนิดสามัญ. That grade is stated in the published resolutions of the Sangha Supreme Council, which use the same formula every time they appoint an abbot or an assistant abbot here, including the resolution of ครั้งที่ ๑๓/๒๕๖๑ appointing the abbot. It is a Dhammayuttika monastery, and its abbot has held the office of Dhammayut ecclesiastical governor of Udon Thani province.
Because the new provincial town had only one temple. The Fine Arts Department's register records that in B.E. 2449 the royal commissioner for Monthon Udon, Phraya Si Suriya Ratcha Woranuwat, judged that the municipality contained only Wat Matchimawat and that a second temple was warranted, surveyed ground on the south side of the salt lake then called Nong Na Kluea, and brought the people of Ban Mak Khaeng out to clear it. The building took about a year.
From the founder, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Local people called the place Wat Mai, the new temple. The eleventh Supreme Patriarch of the Rattanakosin era, Krom Luang Chinnawon Siriwat, afterwards gave it the name Wat Phothisomphon as a memorial to Phraya Si Suriya Ratcha Woranuwat, whose given name was Pho. No instrument for the naming was read for this page, so it is carried as the Authority's account.
The Tourism Authority gives about six hundred years for Phra Phuttha Ratsami, the bronze Maravijaya image that is the principal image of the ordination hall, and about 1,300 years for the laterite Varada image in the rear wall niche, which it also calls Lopburi-style. Those two statements pull against each other — Lopburi-style work is conventionally placed a good deal later than 1,300 years ago — and no other source read for this page corroborates either figure, so both are reported as the Authority's rather than adopted.
No. The Fine Arts Department carries the temple in its national register as monument 0010689 but codes the row at status 0, an ancient monument with no gazette instrument, no delimited land boundary and no architectural description. Registration is a different legal act and this page does not claim it.
Before you go, read the guide to Buddhism and temple etiquette in Thailand — dress, footwear, where photography is not welcome and how to behave around monks. The rest of Udon Thani’s temples are covered here too.
Every temple here sits in a place worth reading about on its own terms. The nationwide temple guide covers the other provinces to the same documentary standard as this page, and says on each one what the record establishes and what it does not.
If you are thinking about more than a visit: work out which Thai visa route fits your situation, and see what is available to rent and buy in residences across Thailand.
Every fact on this page is drawn from the sources above. Where they disagree, this page says so rather than choosing silently. Registrations, fees, hours and access change; confirm anything you are relying on with the authority concerned. BAANLYY LLC is a Nevada company and a listing portal, does not represent any temple, and offers no legal or religious advice.