Heading further east on Sukhumvit, you’ll eventually get near another one of Bangkok’s more obscure shrines – the Shrine of Nang Nak (also known as Mae Nak Phra Khanong), which is said to be the burial place of Thailand’s most famous ghost. Situated within Wat Mahabut off of Sukhumvit 77, Soi 7, (not far from the On Nut BTS Station) this shrine is popular with those who seek good luck, wealth or romance.
When one first enters the Wat Mahabut compound, it seems like most other wat in town: several ornate temples and a lot of monks and stray dogs. But as you make your way towards the back, you’ll notice a throng of vendors selling food and various trinkets and this means you’re getting close to the Shrine. Much of this stuff is for sale as an offering to the ghosts of Nang Nak (including beautiful dresses and cosmetics) and her child (toys, candy, milk and diapers).
The story of Nang Nak is a popular one in Thailand and has been the subject of several films including Mae Nak Phra Khanong (1958), Nang Nak (1999) and The Ghost of Mae Nak (2005). The basic plot goes like this: a man (Mak) goes off to fight in a war and leaves his pregnant wife (Nak) behind in a rural village. Nak eventually dies during childbirth, but when Mak returns home the ghosts of his deceased wife and child greet him. He becomes spellbound by them and does not know the truth about their fates. When the other villagers try to tell him what really happened, they are killed by Nak’s ghost who refuses to accept her death and only wants to remain with her husband. Eventually, a Buddhist monk is summoned to the village and gets the ghost to repent and let her husband live his life in peace.
This timeworn tale has often been referred to as the country’s version of Dracula. Like her Romanian counterpart, there has been some debate about how much of the story is true and how much of it is myth, but it’s famous enough that parents will threaten their children with visits from Nang Nak if they don’t behave.
After making an offering and praying to Nang Nak’s gold leaf covered statue, many people will buy lottery tickets from local vendors in hopes that the ghost will bring them financial fortune. The Shrine of Nang Nak is also popular with men looking to get out of military duty, but should be avoided (for obvious reasons) if you are woman who is either wants to get pregnant or is already pregnant (those people should just stick to the Goddess Tuptin Shrine).
3 comments:
Very well done. I integrate some of your pictures and parts of your story into my blog, If you don't object.
Hi all. How are you?
I appreciate the images also, but some of your notions of the Mae Naak or Nang Naak legend are a bit off. There are several versions of the legend but there is a shrine to Mae Naak by Wat Mahabut because this is the neighborhood where she supposedly lived during Rama IV's reign. The Thai village idea is quaint, but misleading. In fact one of the versions of the legend has her husband Mak taking refuge from her in the Wat (her spirit could not enter holy ground). And so the shrine to her is not within the Wat's grounds as you say but outside its official area. The legend is a very powerful one with all the nuances around the idea of immoderate desire. Thanks for blogging about it.
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