Ajahn Chah Memorial Day 16 January | Wat Nong Pah Pong
- Dhammagiri
- Jan 16
- 2 min read
Every year on Ajahn Chah death anniversary on 16 January, a week long Dhamma program is conducted at Wat Nong Pah Pong (Ajahn Chah's first monastery close to his home village). Every day, there are various Dhamma talks, meditation and chanting sessions. Hundreds of monks and thousands of laity participate, sleeping under mosquito nets or in tiny tents directly in the monastery.
On the last day, the sangha and laity circumambulate Ajahn Chah's stupa, present their flower & incense offerings to his relics, and ask forgiveness from their spiritual teacher, who had founded a lineage that is now represented by hundreds of monasteries in Thailand, and more than two dozend international monasteries on four continents.
Nowadays, it tends to be rare to find individuals who have Pāramī mature enough that they can realize full Nibbāna in this very life. But it is even rarer that the same person additional has the talent to be an effective teacher, someone who can explain the Dhamma successfully and in a way that others get inspired to really take up the practice.
Ajahn Chah could do so!
Additionally, he could not only inspire and instruct people of his own cultural and social background, but he could relate to virtually everyone. Whether subsistance farmers of the Isan (undeveloped North-East region of Thailand) or university professors; whether hippie high school drop-outs or ministers and generals; whether Thai or Western or various other nationalites and cultures; whether rich or poor; old or young; advanced practitioners or complete newcomers to Buddhism & Meditation... Luang Por Chah could relate and inspire all of them.
On top of this exceptional combination of abilities, he was also an accomplished 'manager'/'CEO', who established a large and still growing community of hundreds of branch monasteries in 4 continents. He founded Wat Pah Nanachat as a unique monastery dedicated for training foreigners, but located in Thailand in the heart of the Forest Tradion, close to his own monastery Wat Nong Pah Pong, and providing the same style of training. He succeeded in bringing the forest tradition to Britain and other countries, with the amazing result that we now have preceptors and ordinations regularly happening in Europe, Australia and America.
Let us all celebrate and recollect in gratitude the exceptional qualities of Ajahn Chah - and most importantly, let us practise diligently the teaching and training that he has left behind for us!
Below a gallery from activites at previous commemoration events at Wat Nong Pah Pong.
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One of our long term Vietnamese supporters has written a little guide with information for anyone interested to attend the Ācariya Pūja for Ajahn Chah. Ty doesn't speak Thai, but she could still easily manage together with her elderly mother; and she likes to encourage everyone to join the Ajahn Chah commemoration at Wat Nong Pah Pong at least once.
Ajahn Chah Relics Stupa 
LP Chah Chedi Circumambulation 
Wat Nong Pah Pong, Relic Chedi 
Ajahn Chah Commemoration 16/01 
Senior monks Acariya Puja 
Monks' Gratitude to Teacher 
Inside of Relics Stupa LP Chah 
Ajahn Chah's Chedi at Night 
Monk Meditating at Relic Stupa 
Wat Pah Pong's Stupa at Night 
Paying respect to V.Ajahn Anan
