Tour de Ayuthaya

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Tour de Ayuthaya

By: N. Bobo Meitei *

By day break I was cruised by a gurgling bus, unlike any other days, to reach the victorious point, Victory monument, in downtown Bangkok to be in an opulent mini-van for the land of Temples.

Nothing different until the half-way with the road sides walled up by department stores and American-junk-chains. Soon I hit the much anticipated place, the old stupas and the touch of ancient beauty approached me with a warm embrace.

After a short stroll through the semi-westernized city I finally landed with a plate of Patthai (Thai food) in a street frequented by singers with croaky voice to impress the people bustling with businesses reminding me of the nomadic Indian singer in a sweat-soaked morning piercing through my sparkling windows.

Rushed to the nearest place to rent a bike for few cents for the bright looking day with historical roads ahead. Indeed, it was promising and historical with its deep dedication to the Holy man migrated from the feudalistic India to far-East after enlightenment befriended him.

Gigantic monasteries with the pompous intention to let the world know that this is the capital of Buddhism the magnificently designed temples and architectures depict the passion of the devotees and it is very much intact in the minds of the masses in the land of smile.

Soon after a short retrospection of the land I was brought to a sad state of mind. Overwhelmed by incidents happened in confirmation of strength between the once- mighty Burmese and the undefended Thais. It was told that the Burmese came with greedy minds to splatter bloods for the sake of yellow metal in the form of Statues and roofs.

No matter where you hide in which form gold is always gold. The brutal and the imbecile of part of the then Burmese was its destruction of all the buildings after having looted the most wanted among the many. That seems very inhuman to me still.

Ayutthaya, Thailand, the ancient capital, by Andrew Lih

But in the end of the day what matters the most is the spirits of the people that has enlivened the Buddhist spirit and it seeped through Chra Praya River to other parts of the country.

The structures and architectures of the place are in the written form and the imagination, nothing concrete as they used to be after the destruction, but it has been brought to its life by the will and respect of the people for their ancestors. It is vivid and one will never disown the fact that it was an affluent place, historically showcasing the spiritual zenith.

The state of mind has been worsened when my query of the headless Buddha statues was answered. Stolen and taken out of the place only to be landed at the places of affluent and nasty west, where the Lord would never reside given a chance. But it is infeasible to rewrite the history.

Hours of biking through the friendly and spacious paths bliss my mind and my adrenaline seemed to vibrate more the more I biked longer. At that point of time I certainly imagined about biking across South-East Asia. Perhaps that is not faded from my mind yet, very much in the back of my mind. But I had to understand the feeling of others since I could anticipate.

A boat sailed us through the river to the other bank, I still on the bike, sailing us close to the end of the adventurous trip.

Slept with the sleeping Buddha and posed for the old digital camera while groping for the best statue and striking sites around.

Everything is stunning and it was a trip to the memory lane of Ayutthaya with the urge to savor every piece of information. I chewed all and kept them in my mouth for a while, for the tongue wanted to taste them, and sent them down through my wind pipe.

The brutal past of the place did animate my mind and I am still digging more about this land. There is a limitation to each little thing we accomplish in life but everything is imperfect, eventhough, we have substantial facts. Like contented others I was quenched but my eagerness to swallow was grumbling.

Indeed, another Tour De France for a man constrained by phone calls and the sensually enticing stuffs around.

I have not called anything, contrary to other's assumption, since the days ahead promise me a lot with miles to be defeated and the tallest of the tall to be scaled.

Cheers!

N. Bobo Meitei, a Bangkok resident, contributes regularly to e-pao.net . The writer can be reached at [email protected] . This article was webcasted on January 24th, 2007.

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