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Ever since seeing this temple complex across a lake whilst on a ‘hashing’ outing over a year ago – a time when the Pattaya Otter’s knees and feet permitted such activities, I had been planning to revisit it in detail but it was only a few days ago that I actually got round to it.
Around the lake is a cluster of temples of varying size, shape, and colour and the building I originally thought to be the main temple turned out to be a museum.
 Although known popularly as the ‘Ying Yang’ temple due to the proliferation of this image on its decorations, it’s official name is Anek Kusala Sala which means ‘multi purpose pavilion’ and this is the name his majesty the King gave the place when granting permission for its construction in 1987.
The building was completed in 1993 and his majesty came to preside over the grand opening ceremony.
The exhibitions and decorations in the museum were according to the brochure we were given ‘intended to harmoniously mix Thai and Chinese arts and culture’ and our impression is that in that they have been very successful.
Outside the building was a huge brass statue of ‘The eight immortals crossing the Ocean’. It is a full 11 metres in length and 4 metres high. The eight immortals are symbols of good luck and important figures within the Taoist mythology of China.
In front of this was a small Chinese style pavilion for prayer.
 On passing through the ornately carved main entrance (remembering to remove shoes first) we entered into the ground floor of the museum which has a vast number of bronze statues arrayed all around the various walkways. Many too many to describe in this short article but amongst the largest was a magnificent sculpture on the inside entrance wall of ‘The nine dragons praising His Majest y’ which we were informed took nearly a year to complete, and ‘The entrance protectors’ a pair of Chinese gods who guard entrances and doorways.
The walls were covered in paintings all done in ancient Chinese style and we also came upon a series of terracotta statues and bronze chariots from the great emperor Qin Shien’s tomb, and also a model of The Great Wall of China.
There were also many fine Thai arts displayed in two Thai Art Exhibition rooms on either side of the main forum.
 On the first floor reached by an ornate staircase are statues of Chinese gods and some past Chinese emperors in contrast to the top floor which is dominated by a large Buddha image and a series of paintings round the walls depicting stories from the Buddha’s life.
In this short article it is impossible to do justice to the wealth of material that can be viewed here – our visit was just an initial short look around, a serious enthusiast of Thai and Chinese culture could lose themselves in the exhibits for several days.
Following our tour of the museum, we then drove around the lake stopping at the various temples arrayed around its shores, most of whose interiors were unfortunately closed to public view.
Finally we drove back past the museum and on to the nearby hill where a huge Buddha image (see top picture) had been carved by laser on one of its sheer sides.
This is a very popular place of pilgrimage for the local populous and many people were seen around paying homage.
A further selection of just a few of the many photos taken on this all too short visit can been seen below.
To view any of the above photos in full size, just click on it.
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