The Buddha's Footprint in Saraburi

It is believed that the Buddha has left five footprints on earth, where he made a wish for people to see and pay homage to. It is said that anyone paying homage to any of the Buddha’s footprints in good faith seven times will go to heaven. So many Buddhists, wherever they are, usually try to find a chance to pay homage to a footprint of the Buddha.

In the distant past, only the Buddha’s footprint at Sumonkut Mountain in Si Lanka was known to the public and many people having faith in the Buddha’s teachings traveled to this mountain to pay homage to the footprint.

A group of Thai monks traveled to Sri Kanka in order to pay homage to the sacred footprint. Upon their arrival, a Sri Lankan monk spoke to them, “Thailand already has the Buddha’s footprint, why don’t you pay homage to that footprint there?”When they returned to Thailand, they told King Songtham of the Ayutthaya Kingdom about this matter. The King ordered the search of the footprint, and it was finally discovered. The footprint resembles to that of a human. A hunter named Bun discovered it on a stone slab at the foot of Suwan Banphot Mountain.

He found that an animal, which had been shot by him, recovered from injury when it fled to the footprint area. When Bun had a rub with water from the footprint, ringworm on his body disappeared. The footprint is 21 inches wide, 5 feet long and 11 inches deep. Seeing that the footprint’s features were the same as those mentioned by Sri Lanka, King Songtham ordered the construction of a mondop (square structure with spire) to cover the footprint, which has become a religious center for people to pay homage to.

This Buddha’s footprint is located at Wat Phra Baddha Bat in Khun Khlon subdistrict, Phra Phutthabat district, Saraburi province. Apart from paying homage to the revered Buddha’s footprint, visitors to this religious structure will also appreciate the beauty of the ubosot (main chapel) and Phra Viharn (secondary chapel) in the area. They reflect Thai art and architecture of the Ayutthaya and early Rattanakosin periods.