A Chat About the Champi Medallion of the Kathin 9 Aram Edition

The Year of the Champi Medallion

The year B.E. 2563 must truly be counted as the year of the Champi-form Tao Wessuwan medallion, especially those created at the wish of, or under the patronage of, Luang Pho Itthi, who allowed the working team of Wat Chulamanee to produce them in order to raise funds for maintaining Buddhist religious sites or for public benefit, whether inside or outside Wat Chulamanee on various occasions. Each of them drew overwhelming interest from the disciples and the faithful.

From the Champi welcoming-the-disciples medallion, the Champi Mueang Chiang Mai medallion of Wat San Pa Khoi, the Champi Suwannaphum medallion of Wat Phang Muang, the Chinnarat Champi debt-clearing medallion commemorating the casting of the great Phra Phuttha Chinnarat, the Champi Wimuttisuk medallion of Wat Pa Wimutyaram, and the Champi Bun Isan medallion of Wat Si Sanga — every one of them was reserved and paid homage to across many lots in a very short time.

The Origins of the Kathin 9 Aram

Most recently, with the rather strained economic conditions of the present day, the various merit projects of many small temples in the Mae Klong area (Ratchaburi and Samut Songkhram provinces) have stalled. When this reached the ears of Luang Pho Itthi, he formed the wish to have another edition of the Champi Tao Wessuwan medallion created, in order to raise funds to join in the Kathina offering to monasteries in Mae Klong still short of the funds to develop their temple projects — nine temples in all, consisting of:

1. Wat Chulamanee / Samut Songkhram — seed funds to build a dome, at the wish of Luang Pho Itthi

2. Wat Daowadueng / Samut Songkhram — a project to repair the wihan

3. Wat Lamut / Samut Songkhram — a project to repair the monks' living quarters

4. Wat Tanotrai / Samut Songkhram — a project to build an ubosot

5. Wat Bang Kluai / Samut Songkhram — a project to build monks' living quarters

6. Wat Chotithayakaram / Ratchaburi — a project to build monks' living quarters

7. Wat Amonyatsamakhom / Ratchaburi — a project to lay a concrete floor

8. Wat Ubonwannaram / Ratchaburi — a project to repair the ubosot

9. Wat Bang Kaphom School / Samut Songkhram — a project to repair the classrooms

What Makes the Medallion Interesting

And if you ask what makes this Kathin 9 Aram Champi medallion interesting, let me say right away that the first factor is that you gain the merit of the Kathina offering together with Luang Pho Itthi to as many as nine temples at once, which counts as a great and immeasurable merit.

As for the next factor, if we consider the form of the medallion, it must be said that it is a Champi medallion of Wat Chulamanee with a signature mark for the edition that looks strikingly different from before (the B.E. 2545 edition): it has a border of Kanok Lai Khaeng Sing (lion-shank foliage motif) running all around, making the medallion far more distinctive. The highlight, in my view, lies in the yantra on the reverse, because it is a yantra that Luang Pho Itthi granted to be stamped on the reverse of this Kathin 9 Aram Champi medallion alone — namely, the "Maha Solot Mongkhon Trinisinghe yantra."

The Maha Solot Mongkhon Trinisinghe Yantra

The Maha Solot Mongkhon Trinisinghe yantra is a special yantra that Luang Pho Itthi composed, by combining the Solot Maha Mongkhon yantra together with the Trinisinghe yantra, running the Trinisinghe yantra clockwise around the Solot Maha Mongkhon yantra, with the syllables surrounding the inner yantra lines being the Barami 30 That gatha, while the outermost syllables are the Four-Weapons gatha, consisting of: on the left, the weapon of the Alavaka yaksha, whose weapon is a noose; on the right, the weapon of Yama, whose weapon is his eye; above, the weapon of Indra, whose weapon is the thunderbolt; below, the weapon of Tao Wessuwan, whose weapon is a club. This is a great yantra of Luang Pho Itthi that is truly supreme.

In Closing

So do consider for yourselves just how interesting this Kathin 9 Aram Champi medallion is, and how worthy it may be to reserve and wear it round your neck. Let me say it in a single short phrase: just the "Maha Solot Mongkhon Trinisinghe yantra" stamped on the reverse of the medallion already makes it worthwhile. Good night to you all.