Wat Dhammarama Upali Maha Thera's residence.

In Sri Lanka there are three major sects namely Syamvamsa from Thailand, Amarapura from Burma and Ramanna from lower Burma.

Among these three sects, Syamvamsa claimed to be the oldest, and they just celebrate 250th anniversary in 2003.

We then trace back to 1753 when a group of 25 monks were sent from Thailand during King Baromkot's reign of Ayudhya period. The chief monk was Upali Maha Thera who was from forest tradition and gained a high respect from the King. The historical record just mentioned the name Dhammarama as his residence before he took off to Sri Lanka.

Ven.Dhammananda went tracing this temple without a clue, presently it is not a tourist site, therefore the name was not registered anywhere. Many of the temples in the old capital of Ayudhya were well marked with signs on the streets, but nothing on Wat Dhammarama.

There was a temple by the name Dhammadhiraja, so we headed towards that temple where they discovered a famous head of Dhammadhiraja. We studied all the historical material given but there was no mention about Upali Thera and his famous visit to Sri Lanka.

The sun was high and it was close to midday, so our group looked for a likely spot for our lunch break. Ven.Dhammananda and her nuns are vegetarians so we always prepare and carry a tiffin carrier with us on a day tour like this. We found a nice open space with a picnic pavilion near the elephant center where tourists buy the tickets for a short elephant ride around the inner island of Ayudhya. This served the purpose for Ven Josie who was with us and the baby Naboon, both of them love elephants dearly.

We spread out the mat and offered lunch to the Venerable and among the lay folks we really enjoyed good lunch and breezy pavilion overlooking a lake on one side and herds of elephants on the other side.

After lunch, Ven.Dhammananda explained to the driver of her particular interest in this Dhammarama temple. Again we made another round, this time we changed our tactic and asked information from the local passer-by. An elderly man directed us to a new direction. Our landmark was Kasatradhiraja temple, which is a tourist attraction and we can see that clearly in the guide book. Wat Dhammarama is further in from Kasatradhiraja temple. We found Kasatradhiraja temple very easily, it is on the other side of the moat around the old capital. We went through Wat Kasatradhiraja and the road seems to come to an end.

Again we made another inquiry, this time we looked for elderly local man, he pointed out to the spire of the Chedi of Wat Dhammarama hardly half a kilometer from where we were.

Only when we were right in front of the Wat Dhammarama then we saw the sign board, gold letters on red board. The road went through the temple, the old Chedi or stupa in ruin was on our left and the temple itself was on our right.

The open space was cleanly swept. We walked through open area shaded by trees on the right there was an open platform where we saw a statue of Upali Maha Thera, then we were sure we came to the right place.

Further down there is a small but very beautiful Scripture hall on the bank of the canal. Two monks were working very hard in the sun, apparently trying to fix a low fence around the hall. A loud pop music from their transistor was rather disturbing, but apparently they enjoyed it. We approached them and asked to see the abbot, they pointed to a wooden building nearby. Apart from that pop music the place was quiet and serene. We walked up the wooden stairs to an open space inside the building which was built in the classical thai style house with open space for each adjoining building. Soon the abbot came out, put on his robe as a sign of respect and greeted us warmly.

There are only 4 monks in the whole temple, which is now a forest temple. Apparently Upali Thera in his time was a well respected forest monk and was appointed by King Baromkot to lead the group of 25 monks to Sri Lanka in answer to the request of the King of Sri Lanka. The Abbot said that Upali Maha Thera boarded the boat infront of the temple. But he must have changed into yet another ship, as the canal in front of the temple was too narrow for any ship that would take them to Sri Lanka.

When Syamvamsa in Sri Lanka celebrated 250 years (2003), the Sangharaja of Thailand casted Buddha statue and sent to the Sanghas of both Syamvamsa Asgiri Chapter and Malwata chapter. Also statue of Upali Maha Thera was also sent to Sri Lanka.

The present abbot had an opportunity to visit Sri Lanka and felt himself very connected.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The next project suggested by the Sri Lankan embassador to Thailand was to turn the Scripture hall into a small exhibition space bearing letters from both countries as a record of the long standing relationship between the two countries.

This is a good start, if you are visiting Thailand and want a guide to this temple, I would like to offer my assistance.

Now I find myself yet another profession .... tour guide.