Wat Nam Lom

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Operating day: Daily

Operating time: 08.00 - 17.00

 

Wat Nam Lom Nai Wiang, Muang Nan, Nan. Wat Nam Lom (Nam Lom Temple) is a Mahanikaya Buddhist temple. There is no concrete evidence indicating who founded the temple or the exact time of its construction. However, oral accounts from elders grandparents and great-grandparents tell that the original site of Wat Nam Lom was an island surrounded by a pond, with water encircling it on all four sides.

 

Villagers came together to build a wooden monastery with a thatched roof on this small island around the year Chulasakarat 1119 (B.E. 2300 / A.D. 1757). Monks were then invited to reside there during the rainy season retreat. Later, Chao Maha Phrom Surathada, the ruler of Nan, sponsored the construction of a vihara (monastic hall) in Chulasakarat 1248, Year of the Rabbit, on April 10, B.E. 2429 (A.D. 1886). The vihara was completed in Chulasakarat 1250, Year of the Monkey, on April 14, B.E. 2434 (A.D. 1891), and a five-day celebration was held in that year. Chao Maha Phrom Surathada presided over the ceremony, as noted by Mae Chao Sri Kham, a noblewoman closely related to the ruler.

 

According to family oral history, it is recorded in ancient Khoi manuscripts (traditional folding books) and evident in the small bells hanging from the roof’s apex decorations around the vihara. Because the temple is surrounded by water, it came to be known as "Wat Nam Lom", meaning “Temple Surrounded by Water”. It is considered one of the interesting ancient Lanna-style temples in Nan province.

 

Wat Nam Lom was officially granted the Wisungkhamsima boundary (a formal ecclesiastical boundary for ordinations) on October 26, B.E. 2508 (A.D. 1965). The temple occupies a total area of 5 rai, 3 ngan, and 90 square wah (approximately 2.3 acres), registered under land deed number 3354, which is kept at the Nan Provincial Office of Buddhism as of January 9, B.E. 2544 (A.D. 2001).

 

Since its establishment, there have been nine abbots up to the present. As of B.E. 2555 (A.D. 2012), the abbot is Phra Khru Kosolnuntawit (Udom Uttamo).