Crack worship

SUKHOTHAI: Villagers who discovered a long crack in a wall surrounding Khong Pong temple in Sri Samrong District believe it was made by an angry naga, or serpent-god. The crack was first noted on July 22, when pupils came to ask temple administrator Sawai Pradit why the 200-year-old temple had cracks resembling a serpent’s track around its exterior wall. Dumbfounded, K. Sawai said the cracks hadn’t been there on the previous day, nor had there been any unusual activity in the area that could account for them. Many villagers therefore concluded that the cracks were the result of supernatural activity. They prostrated themselves before the crack, praying that it would somehow transmit to them the winning numbers in the upcoming lottery draw. K. Sawai said that many people believed the tracks were made by an angry naga that had become enraged by the construction of two new naga images in a pond in front of the temple. “People think the [real] naga may have become angry because the sculptures were built in the wrong way, with their heads facing the earth rather than the water. They think the naga coiled himself around the temple and squeezed, harming the wall as a result.”