Wat Kosit Wiharn (Phuket Town)

It's temple time again! You'll find a lot of information about Phuket's Temples on the blog, and that's because I like temples! I have a vague plan to blog all the temples in Phuket including mosques and Chinese shrines too. Every temple has something special, but they all share a certain spiritual peace and are somewhat removed from the hustle and bustle of daily life.





We happened to be passing Wat Kosit Wiharn (or Wihan, or indeed Viharn), which is a little north of Phuket City center on the road towards the airport (route 402) - see location on Google Earth. It's quite an important temple, mainly due to it's large Buddhist cemetery (which I might revisit soon). Near the main temple is a crematorium, and around the main temple you find small recesses in the wall containing ashes along with a photo of the deceased and money for the afterlife.





 



You have to climb a fair number of steps to reach the temple, which is built into the jungly hillside. You have views to the west across the north of Phuket town. Just another temple? Not for the people in that part of Phuket town, this is their local temple, part of daily life. Sure you can visit a more "touristy" temple such as Wat Chalong or Wat Phra Tong, but if you have a few spare minutes, a smaller temple is certainly worth a look.