Luang Pu Chan (Chanthachoti)
Abbot of Wat Nakhu — Nakhu Subdistrict, Phak Hai District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya
Luang Pu Chan Chanthachoti — born Chan Poonkerd in Phak Hai District — is remembered as the steady heart of Wat Nakhu, a monk whose quiet discipline and pilgrimage practice shaped both temple and community. Calm in speech and firm in meditation, he travelled widely in search of training, journeying as far as Burma and returning with a broadened mastery that he put to work building schools, restoring chapels, and guiding villagers toward a life grounded in Dhamma.
His spiritual craft is preserved most vividly in two forms of sacred work. The first is his Phra Somdej made from accumulated holy powder. Following an exacting method, he would inscribe Buddhist scripture upon a slate, erase it, and retain the dust — repeating the cycle until sufficient sacred powder had gathered for molding. These smaller-format Somdej, often finished with a thin varnish oil coating, carried a reputation for protection and healing, including antidotal blessings against bites from snakes or centipedes. Their modest size belied a distinctive character and the quiet authority of their maker.
The second is his renowned Takrud Tone. Fashioned from lead sheets meticulously inscribed with 81 yantra squares, each scroll was composed in the temple chapel between 7 p.m. and midnight, with no more than three completed in a sitting. Once etched, the takrud was sleeved in gold taken from a monk’s bowl lid, sealed with lead, and hung from a braid of seven-colored silk thread. He distributed Takrud Tone to newly ordained monks and to patrons who supported the building of the Wat Nakhu School. Long treasured by devotees, these scrolls were believed to confer weapon invulnerability, protection from wild beasts, and resistance to malevolent spells, conditioned by conduct precepts and observances that he taught alongside the blessing.
The precision of his work reflected an earlier life as a skilled goldsmith; collectors still remark on the fine soldering and clean joins of his takrud assemblies. In his years of travel and exchange, he spent time at Wat Pho Si in Khlong Khanak, Wiset Chai Chan District, Ang Thong — a monastery associated with the famed Luang Phor Krai — where knowledge was shared among peers and refined through daily practice.
The story of Wat Nakhu itself is inseparable from its early patrons. In 1895, the influential Khun Phithak Borihan (Phueng Milinthawanich) and his wife Nang Chang Milinthawanich donated 18 rai of land and resources to establish the temple, providing a base for the community’s religious life that Luang Pu Chan would nurture for decades. Through his teachings, craftsmanship, and public works, he left a legacy in which protection and compassion were paired — an ethic of care expressed in both wisdom practices and useful deeds.
Today, his Takrud Tone and Somdej remain touchstones for students and collectors: artifacts of a disciplined mind and a generous heart. More than objects, they are reminders of a monk who walked far to gather knowledge, then quietly returned it to the people who needed it most.