Straying away from the usual and typically mentioned Wats in Bangkok, the Shrine of Mae Nak is one that you should definitely visit during your holiday. However, if you get spooked rather easily, we suggest you stop reading.
One important thing to remember is that the local people believe quite strongly on ghosts and the Shrine of Mae Nak is believed to be home to one. Her name is Mae Nak.
This hair raising tragic story is one of love and loss and the story dates back to a couple who lived during the reign of King Rama IV.
The legendary and eerie story of Mae Nak starts with her and Mak , her husband, deeply in love with each other, until he enrols to fight in the war. While Mak is off at war, Nak who was pregnant, goes in to labour and dies from childbirth.
However, when Mak returns home, he finds his beautiful wife and child waiting for him. Despite the neighbours warnings and protests that his wife was infact dead, Mak hears none of it and continues living his life until he sees his wife stretch her arms to below the floor boards of the kitchen to pick up a dropped lemon. Horrified, he fled in night without telling Mak, who then spent her entire ghost life in search of him.
The story ends with a priest exorcising her spirit to the other world, and a shrine was built as a way of the locals accepting her story of love. Visitors offer prayers at the shrine for blessings of good fortune and safety.
Intrigued by history, art and food, Lavinia Woolf is a writer who is passionate about the extraordinary and writes of the exhilarating and enchanting. Google+
