-21- A Bird’s-eye View of the Ban Don Bay Area

~ By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~

To get the view, you have to go up the Nang-E Mountain, about a fifteen-minute walk from here. Look at the scenery around the Ban Don Bay area, which was believed to be the site of the ancient Srivijaya culture. There is a mountain called Khao Srivijaya. More than a thousand years ago it was probably an island, but now it has become a mountain because land has grown out into the sea and covered the island. There are a lot of things to be studied from the history of the Ban Don Bay area. The town of Chaiya is on this corner, Kanchanadit on another, and Khirirat is far to the west. In the ancient times, the sea would have reached far back to the west, but the area now has become solid land. The Ban Don Bay area was historically important as the location of the Srivijaya Period, when Buddhism was popularly adhered to. The people then knew Dhamma so well as to compose a lullaby describing the essence of nibbāna, as I have mentioned in the topic of the Nalikae Coconut Island. Many of the cultural heritages concerning the religion have been handed down to the present. This is because Buddhism has been popular here since about 1,300 or 1,500 years ago. If you are interested in history and geography, then go up the Nang-E Mountain to have the bird’s-eye view of the Ban Don Bay area as far to the other side as Samui Island.

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“24 Benefits of Suan Mokkh,” is a series of weekly posts published to commemorate the 88th anniversary of the foundation of Suan Mokkh in May 1932 in Chaiya, southern Thailand.

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For other Dhamma teachings by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu (audios, free ebooks, interviews, poems), please visit Suan Mokkh – The Garden of Liberation.

Photograph from the Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives collection (Ref. W-619)