Wat Phra Phutthabat

The story is that in 1606 a hunter named Bun tracked a wounded deer into the hills here, found it healed after drinking from a rock hollow, drank himself and was cured of a skin disease; King Songtham's monks identified the hollow as one of the Buddha footprints described in Sri Lankan texts, and the king had a mondop built over it. It became the principal Buddha footprint site in Thailand and the destination of an annual pilgrimage that continues - the Ngan Phra Phutthabat festival in February and March draws large crowds. The footprint itself is a rock depression about one and a half metres long, kept under a mondop whose doors are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and pilgrims drop gold leaf and coins into it. The building was looted and burned in 1765 and rebuilt. Shoes come off well before the mondop and the stone gets very hot underfoot at midday.

What you actually see

• The footprint - a rock depression about one and a half metres long.
• The mondop - the pavilion over it, with mother-of-pearl inlaid doors.
• The pilgrimage - the February and March festival drawing large crowds.
• The 1606 story - the hunter, the deer and the royal identification.

When to go

November to February for weather; the pilgrimage festival in February and March is the temple at its busiest and most alive. Mornings avoid both heat and crowds.

Honest expectations

Shoes off well before the mondop and the stone burns underfoot at midday. Extremely crowded during the festival. The footprint is a rock hollow - the significance is devotional rather than visual. Donation solicitation is constant.

Nearby

Saraburi town is east; Chet Sao Noi waterfall and Lopburi are north.