Wat Chalong Temple

‘Wat Chalong’ is located about 8 km south of Phuket Town and is not only the most important temple on Phuket, but also the spiritual center of the island of Phuket. Each year, the richly decorated temple attracts thousands of visitors. The walls are painted with the story of Buddha and there are several statues of Buddha. In the large pagoda in the grounds there is a sliver of bone of Buddha. Inside there is a game of infinite reflections from hundreds of tiny pieces of glass. On special holidays there’re Wat Chalong markets. The story is going around that two monks, Luang Pho Chaem (1827-1908) and Luang Pho Chuang (1875-1945), were famous herbal doctors and healed many sick people. The two monks were attributed supernatural powers and worshiped for that reason. Also, both monks played a major role in ending a tumultuous uprising of Chinese immigrant-tin miners in Phuket in 1876.