San Phra Kan (Phra Kan Shrine), Lop Buri
Lop Buri, Thailand
Also known as: Monkey Temple, Lop Buri
- Deities
- Vishnu
- Traditions
- vaishnava, folk_regional
- Worship status
- active
- Coordinates
- 14.8023, 100.6151
- Darshan hours
- Generally accessible to visitors and worshippers during daylight hours; confirm current hours locally.
- Best time to visit
- Year-round; the shrine is also famous as home to a large resident macaque population, which is especially active around feeding times.
- How to reach
- In the middle of the Si Sunthon roundabout in central Lop Buri, across the rail line from Phra Prang Sam Yot; reachable on foot or by tuk-tuk from Lop Buri railway station.
- Access notes
- The shrine and surrounding area are home to a large population of long-tailed macaques, which are accustomed to visitors and can be assertive around food; exercise normal caution as at other 'monkey temple' sites in Thailand.
Location
Open in Google MapsSan Phra Kan, at the center of a busy roundabout in Lop Buri, central Thailand, is a syncretic Hindu-Buddhist shrine famous both for its ancient religious images and, more recently, for the large population of long-tailed macaques that have made the site their home, earning it the popular nickname “Monkey Temple.” The shrine houses two principal images: a reclining Vishnu (Narayana) figure known as Thap Lang Narai Banthomsin, and a separate, older Khmer-period stone image, Chao Pho Phra Kan, which sources describe as likely representing either Vishnu or the Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokitesvara — devotees today gild this image with gold leaf as an act of devotion.
The shrine’s base may date to around 1100 CE from the Khmer period, though the French archaeologist Jean Boisselier suggested it may originally have served as a Buddhist stupa base rather than a Hindu shrine. A brick-and-stucco shrine in Thai-Persian architectural style was added during the reign of King Narai in the 17th century, when Lop Buri served as a secondary royal capital, and the structure seen today was rebuilt between 1951 and 1952, funded by local civil servants together with Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram. San Phra Kan remains an active devotional site and a major Lop Buri tourist attraction, reflecting the same blend of Hindu iconography and Thai folk-Buddhist practice found at other prominent shrines in this directory.
Sources
- historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's account of San Phra Kan during this research pass: confirms the shrine, at the Si Sunthon roundabout in central Lop Buri, houses two principal images: 'Thap Lang Narai Banthomsin,' a reclining Vishnu (Narayana) image, and 'Chao Pho Phra Kan,' an ancient Khmer-period stone image described as likely representing Vishnu or Avalokitesvara, which devotees gild with gold leaf; confirms the shrine's base may date to around 1100 CE (Khmer period), though French archaeologist Jean Boisselier suggested it may originally have been a stupa base rather than a Hindu shrine; confirms a brick-and-stucco shrine in Thai-Persian style was added during the reign of King Narai (17th century), and that the current structure was rebuilt in 1951-1952 (completed 2 May 1952), funded by local civil servants and Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram; confirms the site's popular nickname as the 'Monkey Temple' for its large resident macaque population.
For review
- The shrine's religious classification is syncretic rather than a conventional single-tradition Hindu temple: sources describe both a clearly Vaishnava reclining-Vishnu image and a separate ancient stone image of disputed identification (Vishnu or the Buddhist bodhisattva Avalokitesvara), venerated together within a shrine that functions as a popular folk-devotional and tourist site rather than a temple administered by a Hindu religious body, similar in spirit to Bangkok's Erawan Shrine, already documented in this directory.
- Sources disagree on the origin of the shrine's base: one account attributes it to a roughly 1100 CE Khmer-period Hindu shrine, while French archaeologist Jean Boisselier is cited as suggesting it may originally have been a Buddhist stupa base; this entry does not resolve the disagreement.