YASOTHON
– After a monk in Si Nual village dreamed of the mythical dragon Naga living in a well 3 years ago,
the hunt for lottery numbers began.
For the past years, local villagers insisted, the power
of the Naga has not only granted them winning lottery numbers, but also provided magical water which
cured whatever illness their elder relatives might be suffering from.
When another round of
lottery drawing approaches – like today – the villagers would flock to the well, which is situated
in the village′s temple. Our correspondent found crowds of villagers praying to the well with incenses and
flowers in their hands.
Some arrived with their buckets and bottles to draw the water,
telling our correspondent they would bring the ?healing water? back to their families.
Next to piles of flowers laid there in
reverence, someone placed twin figures of male and female 5-headed Naga, while a 7-headed Naga King
made of sandstone gazed at the worshipers nearby.
The well itself is 2-meter
wide and 6-10 meter deep. Its surface was covered with dome-shaped room built by the villagers.
Boontun Paopen, 67, a village resident, said a hermit monk arrived in Na Si Nual village and
told the villagers he was walking from Mookdaharn province. Ms. Boontun said one of the first things
the monk did was asking whether there was a well in the village′s temple.
Yes, there′s a
well there, the villagers reportedly told him, explaining that the century-old well in the temple
had been abandoned for years after some kids and cattle accidentally fell into the water. Plus, the
villagers preferred the provincial waterworks these days. So, for 10 years, they had blocked the
well with twigs.
According to Ms. Boontun, the monk stunned the villagers by telling them
they?d better remove all those obstacles from well′s lid because he had a dream that 2 Naga – a male
and female – were living inside that well, and by unblocking their reathing path, the Naga would
bring riches to the community.
Naga are mythical dragons from Buddhist cosmology. Many temple murals and statues feature the Naga spreading its many heads behind Buddha as he sat and meditated.
Villagers went to work immediately, renovating the well and
turning it into a shrine. They said fortunes kept coming, some villagers even won lotteries, so they
gathered money and build a permanent roof over the well.
The villagers? faith in the sacred
well was even more reinforced after a local told his neighbors he has seen the two Naga rising out
of the well in full glory. Sometimes the Naga would speak to them via mediums. Sometimes the water
blessed by their power would heal diseases. But the principal power of the Naga is decidedly
prophesying lucky number for lotto.
Today, like any other month, the pilgrims could be seen
busying themselves by scratching the well′s perimeter, looking for signs of numbers, while numerous
lotto vendors hawk their tickets to riches around the temple′s courtyard.
As for Ms.
Boontun, she said she had seen the signs and she believed that – Naga willing – this month′s lottery
number would definitely include 0 and 5.