ถ้ำฤาษีเขางู

Tham Ruesi Khao Ngu

Useful Information

Location:	Ko Phlappla, Mueang Ratchaburi, Ratchaburi 70000. (13.574925033972105, 99.77728004503825)
Open:	All year daily 8-17. [2024]
Fee:	free, donations welcome. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave Cave Church
Light:	n/a, bring torch
Dimension:	Tham Fa Tho: L=50 m. Tham Chin: L=25 m. Tham Cham: L=35 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Martin Ellis (2012): The Caves of Ratchaburi, Thailand, Takobi Ltd, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, UK. pdf
Address:	Tham Ruesi Khao Ngu, Ko Phlappla, Mueang Ratchaburi, Ratchaburi 70000, Tel: +66-3239-1397.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1966	Tham Chin discovered.
1975	Tham Fa Tho opened by removing the wall.
27-DEC-1992	Tham Fa Tho explored and surveyed by Claude Chabert and Claude Mouret.

Description

ถ้ำฤาษีเขางู (Tham Ruesi Khao Ngu, Snake Mountain Hermits Cave) is not a show cave, it is a small cave temple which is actually the synonym for a small set of caves in a park. There are various names and different transliterations around, and it is hard to determine which is which, so we try to separate all those names into separate objects. The area is called เขางู (K̄heā ngū, Khao Ngu, Snake Mountains) which are some limestone karst towers which form a sort of half-circle around a patch of flat lowland, which is a temple district. The central temple is a Buddhist pagoda in the middle of this half-circle named วัดถ้ำเขางู (Wạd t̄ĥả k̄heā ngū, Wat Tham Khao Ngu, Snake Mountain Cave Temple). Its also named วัดราชสิงขร (Wat Rat Singkhon), and it is the starting point for the religious visitors. Its always a little confusing if the word tham, which means cave, is used for a pagoda without a cave. It seems the word translates cave as well as temple, in other words a cave is always tham, but tham is not always a cave. For the tourists, the site was dubbed Khao Ngu Stone Park which is either a small patch at the start of the mountains or the whole site, the tourist office and Google Maps still have not settled this dispute. We list the for caves anticlockwise.

The main site is the พระพุทธฉาย ถ้ำฤาษีเขางู (Phra Putthachai Tham Ruesi Khao Ngu, Hermit Cave of the Snake Mountains Buddhist Temple) cave temple in the north of the main temple, in the easternmost karst tower. At the foot of the cliff there is a cave with a gated entrance portal which contains a set Buddha statues and a tiled floor. The center is the 3.65 m high seated Buddha in the entrance hall, which was carved out of the stone as early as the 7th century by the hermit Sri Samadhigupta, who lived there. The main chamber has two side chambers, one can only be reached by deep stooping. A decorative stone staircase leads up the slope of debris at the foot of the karst tower to the entrance, so it is hard to miss. There are numerous recent and historic religious details which are hard to understand, inscriptions in the wall in various languages, including Sanskrit, obviously. There are buddhas carved into the wall, walls covered with plated gold and a black coating, and altars and Buddha statues with gold plating, flowers, and lots of ex-votos. It's like a catholic pilgrim destination on steroids. If you have only time for one cave, you should visit this one.

ถ้ำฝาโถ (T̄ĥả f̄ā t̄ho, Hat Tho Cave, Fa Tho Cave) is the second cave temple, which is much harder to access. It is located to the west in the karst tower, but much higher, about 100 m above the plain. A long staircase leads up to the temple. The main passage is 3 m wide, 4 m high, and 12 m long. The main decoration is an 8 m long lying Buddha statue which was carved as a relief into the rock and later covered by a plaster version. It originates from the Dvaravati period and is in a rather bad shape. This cave was walled up for a long time for unknown reasons, but the wall was completely removed. The wall was decorated with ceramics during the late Ayutthaya-early bangkok period. After the wall was removed worshippers appeared. The opening as a temple was an attempt to protect the site, limestone quarrying was already within 30-40 m, and the interior is covered with limestone dust.

The third cave temple is even higher up and further to the west in the next karst tower. The staircase starte beneath the staircase to the secon, but goes uphill towards west. This temple is called ถ้ำจาม (T̄ĥả cām, Tham Cham, Sneeze Cave). The most impressive site here is a footprint of Buddha inside the small temple in front of the cave. Again, it is quite astonishing how similar different religions on opposite sides of the plante work.

The fourth temple is south of the third temple, at the foot of the karst tower and much easier to reach. It is called ถ้ำจีน (T̄ĥả cīn, Tham Chin, Chinese Cave). A spacious cave passage contains two Buddhas which were carved out of the wall on the right-hand side. There are also fragments of other figures on the floor. As all those older statues are in a very poor shape, a modern Buddha on a concrete plinth was added. Its unclear why so much is destroyed, if it is just age, lack of renovation, willful destruction. The two caves were gated with iron bars, but the doors are cracked and open, the caves freely accessible. If the destruction is a result of this fact remains unclear. After all, there is a language and culture barrier, and it is quite hard to find out more details.

Looking at the karst towers, there are several really strange forms, which are not karst or erosion related. There are valleys and gorges with vertical walls and lakes at the floor. They are actually artificial. The modern civilization is based on concrete and cement, and cement is produced from limestone, so the limestone karst towers are quarried, especially here, were the first limestone towers close to the capital Bangkok are found. In other words, huge areas of limestone karst including the caves were quarried to build cheap housing and motorways. Most of the stuff which was created by destroying our heritage will be gone in a few decades, the money which was earned is most likely already gone. Again the parallel to Europe: we have quarried the Neanderthal cave in Germany, the cave where the first Neanderthals were discovered. It is completely gone, there is a memorial 20 m deeper, where the surface is today. However, the quarries stopped when they reached the temple area, and so there are some karst towers and some caves remaining. To protect the remains, the tourist office advertises the site as a park, so the financial revenue from the tourists is higher than the possible revenue from the quarrying.