Monk goes viral for auto rubbish-collecting cart to clean temple

A monk came up with an ingenious idea borne out of necessity, giving birth to a functional, automatic rubbish collection cart. The monk, who lives in the Ayutthaya province, created a cart that can gather and collect discarded items and fallen leaves from a 14-acre temple area without the need for manual labour.

Built from scraps collected around the temple and repair stores, this automatic street sweeper minimises exertion and streamlines a tedious process.

The origin of this innovation traces back to the irritation of having to clean such a vast area and the urgency to raise funds for the temple’s development. After a TikTok post about this invention went viral, it garnered a staggering response, with over a million views and numerous comments.

At the Uthai District’s Nong Nam Som Temple, the site of this creation, a 33 year old monk named Narin was found pushing the invention around the temple. This rubbish-collecting cart assembled by the monk from available materials at the temple and spare parts from relatives’ discarded items remarkably tidies up the temple grounds populated with large trees, providing a noise-free and serene atmosphere.

It all began when Narin thought of an efficient way to sweep and collect leaves during the chilly January season. The strong winds would scatter the heaps of leaves, necessitating repeated cleaning. So, Narin improvised using the resources available at the temple, from scrap metal to used bicycle gears.

This simple machine, which does not entail complicated mechanisms, uses a rotating broom powered by the pushing force to gather debris and leaves into the cart. The adjustable level of the wheels was sourced from a discarded chair at the temple.

The automatic rubbish-collecting street-sweeper, a low-cost invention, barely required capital investment since the monk built it mostly with unused scrap metal, while the only real expenses were the broom and the welder’s tokens and refreshments. Now, Narin contemplates augmenting the design by attaching a motor and ramping up production, possibly even for commercial sale.

The monk credits his inventive motivation to Khun Pariyatikhun, the temple abbot. He instructed the monks that life in the priesthood is not about profiting from the temple, but about giving back to it. Each monk is tasked with maintaining the temple, cleaning rubbish and repairing it, apart from their regular religious studies and practices.

“While in ordination, don’t just live, sleep, and pass your days. During free time from religious studies, every monk should come out to help maintain and clean the temple continuously. Do not live in the temple; let the temple live in you.”