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Neun Phra or Neun Yai Hom is located in Tambon Don Yai Hom. Take the
Petchakasem Road from Nakhon Pathom heading into Bangkok for about 5
Kms., you will arrive at a T-intersection, turn right onto Settakit 2
Road (Ban Paew-Don Yai Hom Road) and proceed for about 9 Kms., Neun Yai
Hom is on your left and another 150 metres into a side road, located in
the middle of the rice fields. Amphoe Ban Paew is an ancient site.
In
1936, Phra Dhamma Vathi Kanachan (Luang Pho Ngeun), the abbot of Wat
Don Yai Hom, dug up broken bricks from the base of the hill to build a
church. Digging down further, he found two square green laterite
pillars both about 4 metres high with a unique carving at the crown of
the pillars that resembled pillar doors of the Sanchi Chedi of King
Asoka Maharaj, and a laterite statue of a crouching deer, another
Dvaravati period Buddha image, and a broken stone Sema Dhamma Chakra
(Buddhist Wheel of Virtue used signify temple boundaries). The
laterite stone pillars had a gap at the top for placing the Sema Dhama
Chakra. This is the same style as those found at Phra Pathom Chedi,
Wat Phra Ngam, Wat Phra Padhone, and Sanam Chan Palace. Presently, the
pillars are at Wat Don Yai Hom, the laterite crouching deer and the
Buddha images are on exhibit at the Bangkok National Museum. These
discoveries confirm that this area was once an ancient temple and that
the hill must have been a large Chedi that was in the temple compound
dating back to the Dvaravati period, or earlier, roughly about 1,000
years ago. It is a revered and important historical site.
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