Neun Phra

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.