Goddess Women s Temple

The name "Pattaya" comes from "Phraya Tak",
title and name of a Siamese general, later
who became King Taksin the Great. In the end
XVIII century (in 1767), when in ancient
the kingdom of Ayutthaya was invaded by an army from Burma,
army of Phraya Tak (King Taksin) valiantly
fought in a battle on the territory of today
Pattaya.
Territory where Phraya Tak (King
Taksin) and his army defeated the enemy army,
soon received the name Thap Phraya ("Army of
Phrayi"). Over time, this name was changed
to "Ph(r)atthaya" and then simplified to
"Pattaya", the literal meaning of which is -
wind blowing from the southwest to the northeast
beginning of the rainy season."


PROLOGUE
No one remembers that there was a temple in this place. People remember that during the Vietnam War, Pattaya was just a fishing village. The arrival of the Americans changed everything. The Americans needed cheap women, booze, entertainment. All this was not in Pattaya at that time and all this quickly appeared. However, I will not talk about this - it is not interesting. It was half a century ago. That is almost today. What for the history of some fifty or sixty years, so, a speck of dust underfoot. I want to talk about the land on which Pattaya stands.
I saw this story in a dream, and I trust my dreams. Sometimes it seems to me that only what I see in a dream is true.
I was in Pattaya only three times, I lived in a tourist area. One morning, very early in the morning, I went for a walk. I walked and walked and walked without thinking about anything, without suffering, I just walked. The road led me to the statue of the goddess of the earth, near her feet were scattered baskets of flowers. A strong January wind was blowing, it scattered the baskets. I collected them and arranged them beautifully. I don’t know if I had the right to do this, and if I violated any rules, maybe yes, maybe not, but at that moment I didn’t care much. After putting things in order, I left. Two years later, I returned to Pattaya again, but I could not find the statue. It could not be broken, this is not practiced by the Thais. I walked in circles, sweat flooded my face, but I could not find the statue. It was a shame, in preparation for the visit, I bought a necklace of orchids, but I could not put it on the head of the goddess of the earth, I did not find her. However, Me Phra Thorani, or rather her statues, came across at every turn, and therefore I put a necklace around the neck of the first statue that came across, confident that all these statues were twin sisters, because they are just symbols of the goddess of the earth. However, the annoyance remained. I wanted to come to my statue. But, as you know now, it didn't work out. I remember that my statue was hidden from view, it was surrounded by small bushes, it was like in a small jungle. The path that led me went to the left and ran into this mini jungle. However, the statue towered above the trees, and it was visible. It is very strange that I did not find it, if I remember the way to it so well.
Three years have passed since that trip. Looking through the photos, I feel annoyance and a strong desire to return and find what I did not find.
Why? I dont know.
WOMEN'S TEMPLE
I've been dreaming for a month now. I dream that I found this place, however, parting the bushes, I saw not one statue, but many. There were nine hundred ninety-nine thousand of them. They stood in a square. The square framed a huge piece of land. These were not statues of mother earth, they were statues of small children, from two to five years old. The children were dressed in tight clothes and held hands. The statues stood close to each other and four walls were formed from them. It was impossible to pass through these walls. The main entrance opened only at three in the morning and at three in the afternoon. Only women could enter this temple. Hundreds of men twice a day saw off their companions with an envious look, but they had no right to enter. The temple towered above the walls. However, he was not visible at night. The temple was completely black. It was crowned by a huge statue of the goddess of the earth. The statue was made of transparent glass. Those who entered inside the huge temple needed to be patient. The desired goal was at the very end of the temple. There were statues of Buddhas on both sides of the path. I hope that my story will not be considered blasphemy. In this temple, the Buddhas were the servants of the goddess of the earth. Although in fact, in reality, the goddess of the earth serves the Buddha. Here, in her temple, it was the other way around. However, the Buddhas were golden, if that reassures you, and the earth goddess is black and wooden. But I'm getting ahead of myself. To get to the goddess, women had to go through many trials. The towers of the temple of the goddess were waiting for their temporary guests. Not a single woman was denied here. Women could do anything. Anything. Any female could enter the territory of the temple. The main thing is that the leg crossing the threshold of the temple should be female, and everything else is not important. Yes, there have been cases where men tried to enter while throwing on women's clothes. Nobody interfered with them. They entered freely, but never returned. Well, rules are rules.
For those who crossed the threshold of the temple, an almost empty courtyard opened up. Golden Buddhas stood facing each other in two lines. Womenwe were supposed to follow this path. Having passed most of the yard, the women ran up against the wall, this wall divided the yard into two unequal halves. As soon as the woman approached the wall, it turned out that it was not a wall at all, but a gate. There was a creak and the gate went underground. As soon as the creak subsided, the woman crossed the invisible line and moved on. The woman went further and further away, and at this time the gate again took its place. In this half of the courtyard there was also a path of Buddhas, but these Buddhas were made of porcelain. The path ended with a descent into the ground. Particularly impressionable women suffering from claustrophobia could return the same way they came and leave the temple. The rest, those who were not afraid of anything, descended underground. But, before following those who went underground, I will say that one could enter the temple only once in a lifetime. Those who, for some reason, left the temple without reaching the desired, could only bite their elbows. Under the ground, not deep, there were towers. Each tower was the size of a small temple. The guest could choose any tower, provided that it was free. The meeting with the goddess took place after twelve hours. If a woman came to the temple at three in the afternoon, then the meeting with the goddess was waiting for her at three in the morning. And vice versa. The tower had two entrances. After resting, the woman could appear before the goddess, but if for some reason it seemed to the woman that the time had not yet come, then the meeting was postponed for another 12 hours. The door of the second entrance was made of the thinnest pieces of mica, the door looked fragile, but it only seemed so. Having opened the door, the guest found herself in a completely dark room, however, the darkness did not last long, as soon as the woman knelt down, as the law of this place prescribed, a ray of light fell from somewhere above. After that, the woman had to stand in a circle that formed a beam of light. It was strictly forbidden for a woman to speak, each of the visitors took a vow of silence, crossing the threshold of the temple. Words interfere with thoughts. The goddess of the earth listened to the thoughts of women. Women could think about something, or they could not think, it did not matter. The goddess knew everything that her woman would ask for, even before the guest crossed the threshold of her temple. Time passed, five minutes, ten, an hour, two. An amazing thing, but standing still, like a pillar, did not give women any comfort, it seemed to them that the world was expanding with every second. The heart beat evenly, thoughts became like the flow of a boundless river, and then disappeared altogether. As soon as the woman entered the state of serenity, the beam of light began to move. Shaking off her stupor, the woman began to follow the beam. Soon the beam rested on the gate leaves. The symbols, invisible in the eternal darkness that reigned underground, began to glow brightly and shimmer as soon as the beam cast a reflection on the gate leaves. A sigh of admiration escaped from the lips of women, some of them immediately stopped their mouths, and some did not even realize that they had violated the rules. However, the goddess of the earth was ready to forgive the woman for the first time. Only a dull rumble that came from under the ground served as a reminder. The women who heard the rumble only looked around anxiously and fell to their knees. This concerned the most intelligent women. Women who were, so to speak… not so smart, might not even pay attention to the first warning. The hum didn't last long. When silence reigned, and only the heavy breathing of a woman became audible, the beam began to go out, because it was time to open the doors of the gate. The beam could not compete with sunlight or moonlight and modestly moved away, that is, it went out as the gate doors opened. The sashes opened completely, and the woman went out into the air. However, it was already time. There, underground, even the most hardy women became ill if they spent more than a day in the chamber. Hence the heavy breathing of women. Rarely, but still sometimes with women there were fainting spells. Such women soon found themselves at home, never having known all the grace of the participation of the goddess of the earth in their destiny. But back to the women who were more resilient.
So the woman was back in the air. The goddess of the earth was ready to help the woman, but not just like that. During the day, the woman did the lesson, at night she returned to the tower. The work that was entrusted to a woman was always to the liking of the guest. The goddess of the earth listened to the thoughts of women for a reason. Those women who loved to cultivate the land, did this all the time. The spinners spun their yarn in a light pavilion, where four linens were fastened with gold and silver pins. Women who had a penchant for understanding animals were also in business. Food, the women received in small boats, which were waiting for the women on the water. The woman's clothes were dyed in the same colors and patterns that were on her boat. However, even if the boat was not painted, the woman could not pass by. Each woman had her own access to the sea. Throughout the time, the women did not see each other. However, it is necessary to clarify everything that concerns time. Time inthe temple of the goddess of the earth was a thin but stretchable thread. It was impossible to say that a woman's lesson was supposed to last weeks or a month. Time in the temple of the goddess of the earth lived according to its own laws. To the men who were waiting for their women outside the gate, the time spent by their girlfriends in the temple did not seem long, no more than three to six hours. Women, on the other hand, experienced time in their own way. It seemed to some women that nights and days change very quickly, while to others, on the contrary, that time here, in the temple, is like honey. Taking a full spoonful of honey, the goddess watched as the honey slowly and majestically flows right into the mouths of the women who came to her temple.
We have already found out that the time that ran outside the gates of the temple, and the time that a slow stream of sand flowed down in the giant hourglass of the goddess, was felt by women and men in different ways. However, the goddess always felt that time limit beyond which it was impossible to intercede. When half the time that a woman was supposed to live in the temple of the goddess of the earth Me Phra Thorani passed, the goddess brought the woman to her chambers. Afraid to scare the guest, the goddess of the earth always draped herself. She showed herself to some women through streams of water, to others through the shadow of a moonlit night, and there were those who saw her face through the foliage of trees. The sand of time covered the beautiful hair of the goddess with a handkerchief. The goddess was beautiful and terrible at the same time. However, she tried to turn to women only with her beautiful face. Only once her anger reached such heights that the disobedient woman had to see the second face of the goddess, and then the third.
This story was so terrible that even now in Thai villages they scare naughty daughters with this story in a whisper. The woman in question committed blasphemy, she burned the drawing, which was the will of her mother. The drawing contained instructions, in which the mother asked that the ancestral house, we are talking about small houses that stand near Thai dwellings, stand in the place that the mother chose. The house was supposed to be near a tree. The tree under which the house was supposed to be would protect from the sun's rays, but would not cast a shadow on it. The daughter put the house in a completely different side of the yard. And she ordered her husband to cut down the tree, uproot the stump. And then all that was left of the tree was completely burned. In the place that the mother asked for, she planted flowers and seeds, this place was in the sun and the planting should have grown in a matter of weeks. The crop is dead. A stubborn woman planted a new crop in this place. When the third landing failed, the woman took her man and went to the temple. She only thought about begging a good harvest from the goddess, nothing else bothered her. Her children were near death, it seemed that each new planting of seeds took away their strength. The harvest was dying, and the children were weakening. However, when the woman appeared before the face of the goddess, only thoughts about the harvest were in her head. She didn't even mention the children. The man did not wait for his wife. This was the case when the goddess became angry. Her second face was so terrible that the disobedient woman was almost blind. However, there was also a third face. Me Phra Thorani struggled to contain herself, but she was also a woman, and women are a product of a sea of ;;emotions. The third face did something to the woman, which is scary to talk about here. The woman survived, but her husband never saw her again. And even if I saw it, I wouldn't know. The woman turned into a tree. Over time, this tree ended up in a woodworking factory. Thousands of sheets were made from wood. These sheets were turned into ritual money at another factory. Money was meant to be burned. People burned this money on ritual days so that their ancestors in the next world could live richly. Each burned bill contained the body and soul of a woman. Until the last, nine hundred and ninety-ninth bill was burned, the woman screamed in agony. Nine hundred and ninety-nine times they burned her body and soul.
However, do not think that the goddess was cruel, no, she was fair. And also the goddess was kind. The story of the disobedient woman has so far been the only story of the cruelty of the goddess. The goddess fulfilled all the cherished desires of women. To those who asked to give the opportunity to become a mother, she gave a long-awaited pregnancy. To those who asked for healing, she granted healing. The requests of the women petitioners were different, but they all received, in general, everything they came for.
There was one special story.
One woman had a beautiful daughter, and behind the forest lived a family of evil men. The mistress of the house died long ago, and the men, the father and three sons, lived for many years without a woman. The men abused the daughter of that woman and killed her. The woman was lonely, the headman of the village did not understand, but sided with the men. Time passed, and when the woman realized that there would be no fair decision, she set fire to the house with the rapists late at night. The rapists burned to death in their sleep. But the trouble is, the spirit of her daughter did not want to calm down and go to the land of her ancestors. The unfortunate mother was in despair, she did not know what else to do. She knew about the temple of the goddess of the earth, but believedthat she was unworthy of help because she was a murderer. After eight months had passed, she finally made up her mind. The goddess granted the woman's wish. When the unfortunate mother left the temple, she dared to mentally ask the goddess. The goddess answered the woman. She said that killing men is a seal that will remain on a woman until she dies. However, she, the goddess of the earth, does not care about the defilers of the saint, the male rapists. The task of the goddess of the earth was simple - to soothe maternal pain, and help the lost soul of this woman's daughter to go to a better world.
Many stories, touching, romantic, sad and cruel, keep the memory of the mother of the earth, she did not refuse to help a single woman. Even the one that turned into a tree was happy for a while. The fire of madness that burned her went out while she was a tall and serene tree.
After talking with Me Phra Thorani, the women returned to work. They did not stay long in the temple. When the work was completed and the women, as agreed, simply sat on their knees and folded their hands, a gong sounded. It was a signal that the last hours of the guest's stay in the temple were expiring. After the gong, the bells began to sing. Hearing this, the woman got up from her knees and returned to the tower to put herself in order. When she again came to the surface, deep night already reigned on the earth. However, this night was to be remembered by the woman for the rest of her life. In the boat, which was waiting for the woman in a secluded place on the sea, a festive dinner was waiting for her. In ancient times, only kings were fed with such dishes. After dinner, the woman entered the water. When she returned to the shore, a surprise awaited her on the sand. A small boat of banana leaves with flowers and bits of fruit stood on a wicker table with short legs. The candle surrounded by flowers was already lit.
Let's come closer and have a look.
Knowing everything that would happen next, the woman pulled out a hair from her hair and put it in the middle of the boat among the flowers, and then carefully took the boat so that the candle did not go out and lowered her beautiful burden into the water.
The goddess of the earth stood nearby, invisible to human eyes. She kept a close eye on the candle. The flickering of a candle spoke to the goddess about many things. The waves carried the boat with flowers farther and farther. The wind rose, grains of sand soared into the air to outline the body of the goddess of the earth. Water flowed from the hair of the goddess, and then flowed to the sea.
The astonished guest strained her eyes to see the goddess more clearly. The insight lasted for a few moments. This happened at the moment when the goddess decided on an act. At that moment it was very quiet on the beach. Even the sound of the waves became silent. The goddess knelt down and raised her hands to her hair. The long hair of the goddess itself twisted into a long and tight rope. The goddess ran her hands through her hair from top to bottom and rivers of water began to flow from her hair. Knowing what would happen next, the woman closed her eyes. To be sure, she still covered her eyes with her hands. And on the ground at that time there was a battle. Me Phra Thorani struggled for the happiness of a woman who asked. Mara, an evil being, was against the woman knowing happiness and did not want the woman's dreams to come true. Lightning flashed in the air. The fight began. Mara did not come alone, but with her army. The goddess of the earth turned in the direction where, in a distant land, the Buddha sat under a Bodhi tree. She heard the thoughts of the Buddha. The Buddha wanted all people on earth to know happiness, and therefore the desire of the goddess of the earth for a woman to be happy was also the desire of the Buddha. Time after time, the goddess of the earth ran her hands through her hair, the water from her hair flowed into the sea. A storm was starting. Huge waves rose above the sky and threatened to drown Mara and her army. Finally, the army of Mara retreated. Thunder rumbled, it was Mara who was angry and shouted that she would return. Finally, everything calmed down. And sounds returned to the world. Morning came. The birds began to sing, the waves entered their usual rhythm. Rising from her knees, the woman took her hands away from her face. The shore was empty, only one flower, a gift from the goddess, lay near the woman's feet. A woman could pick up a flower and go home! However, taking the flower, the woman again knelt down to offer thanks to the Buddha and the goddess of the earth. The woman saw her man, who was standing near the gate, from afar. The men knew that the women who entered the temple always returned from the other side, from the side of the sea. The flower-gift of the goddess, the woman cherished like the apple of her eye, then this flower was passed down from generation to generation. Time had no power over the flower. He didn't need water. The flower and the story of visiting the temple of the goddess of the earth is the dowry that was given to their daughters by the mother of the family of a woman who visited the temple of the goddess Me Phra Thorani. The flower was the key to the happiness of women of that kind.
EPILOGUE
My story is coming to an end, although I'm sorry. I am ready to tell you my dream endlessly. But, that's all I saw in my dream.
I want to ask Me Phra Thorani to call me! As soon as I hear her call, I will return to the land of smiles, to Thailand, to Pattaya. I need to finda statue of the goddess of the earth, it is very necessary. I want to whisper my deepest wish to her. She probably won't let me into her temple, because I'm not Taika. And, by the way, than God, or rather Buddha, is not joking. Anything can happen.
Call me, goddess of the earth, Me Phra Thorani!
And one more small addition. Apparently, the temple of the goddess of the earth was huge, it covered the territory from the beginning of Jomtien to the place where the park is now located. This area was empty in ancient times. The small town that Pattaya was then occupied the area from Pratumnak Hill to Volkin Street, and the area where the Jomtien area is now was a deserted place.