Professor Heng Praiwan (1885-1959) (referencing some parts from the book AC Heng Praiwan by Suwit Khanthawit and Asst. Prof. Ing-on Suphanwanit)
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Professor Heng Praiwan (1885-1959) (referencing some parts from the book Heng Praiwan by Suwit Khanthawit and Asst. Prof. Ing-on Suphanwanit)
- History of the surname "Praiwan"
- In the past, there was no surname usage. However, during the reign of King Rama VI, the Surname Act was enacted. Nai Yai and Nang Wan had an eldest son, Ajarn Heng, who enjoyed studying and gaining knowledge about invulnerability, magic, and sorcery in caves, mountains, and forests in Thailand and neighboring countries. Nai Yai therefore requested to name his surname as “Phraiyawan”.
- Originally, Mr. Yai intended to use the name Phainwan, but when he went to register, the district office wrote it as Phraiwan because they thought that Phainwan had no meaning. The original spelling used ญ, but the district office changed it to use ย. The initial consonant was not a double consonant, which was ไ, so it was written as ไพ. However, on the side of Ajarn Heng’s boat, it was written as ไพญวน because Ajarn Heng did not like ย ยักษ์, saying that it was like ยักษ์ ฆี. Some people believed that the name must not have ย and should use ญ as Phraiwan. Ajarn Heng’s grandson said that วัญ means bright and prosperous. However, in the end, this surname is now called “Phrayawan” (according to the book Heng Phraiwan by Suwit Khanthawit and Assoc. Prof. Ing-on Suphanwanich).
- Biography of Master Heng Praiwan and Master Heng Praiwan's family lineage
- Teacher Heng Praiwan is the son of Mr. Yai and Mrs. Wan. He was originally from the Pom Phet area. He was born on Wednesday, August 8, 1885, during the reign of King Rama V. Later, he expanded and purchased additional land at Thung Han Tra.
- Teacher Heng came from a well-to-do family. According to one of his granddaughters,
- “My grandfather’s father was a good man, that’s why he had a lot of rice fields.”
- “The fields around here belong to this family. They belong to Grandpa Heng’s relatives.”
- This shows that his father was educated and had the means to send him to study abroad (Penang, Singapore). According to what was said, his father was a police officer or prison inspector (warden), but Master Heng was not interested in studying other subjects. He was only interested in the occult and magic spells. Before going to study abroad, he was ordained as a monk at Suwannadararam Temple, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya.
- After disrobing for the first time, Ajarn Heng went to study in Penang and Singapore as his father had wished. Studying abroad allowed Ajarn Heng to meet many new friends, and many of those friends returned to serve in the government and received titles such as Luang, Phra, and Phraya, such as Phraya Phetpricha.
- While studying in Penang, Ajarn Heng was not interested in the academic subjects he was studying. Instead, he thought only about occult science and magic spells. Therefore, he quit his studies and returned to Thailand. A friend at that time (who later became a civil servant as Phraya Phetpricha) suggested that he travel back to the South and study various knowledge in the South, especially at Khao Or, Phatthalung Province, which is famous for tattooing and herbal bathing, etc. Ajarn Heng was interested in tattooing and studied the basics at Khao Or School, Phatthalung Province for about three months before returning to Bangkok and traveling back to Ayutthaya. Not long after, his father, who was sick, passed away. Therefore, he turned his attention to studying occult science fully.
- This time, he headed to Wat Pradu Songtham in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, an ancient temple that has been collecting ancient documents and textbooks since the time of King Naresuan the Great. These textbooks were compiled and collected by Somdej Phra Phannarat of Wat Pa Kaew from ancient texts. They are widely accepted and respected, especially the texts of war strategy, which have branched out into many branches, such as the subject of setting up rituals, the subject of setting up camps, the subject of setting up armies, the subject of selecting strategic locations to build cities, the subject of setting up amulets, as well as the subject of tattooing and sacred characters, the subject of herbal medicine for curing various diseases, etc.
- (Photo of the interior of Wat Pradu Songtham, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province)
- Ajarn Heng studied various texts, especially the Ratnamala scripture or the Maha Phutthathikhun mantra, which contained the complete formula of the Itipiso verse, as well as the Mahajakkapattrathirat Yantra. When Ajarn Heng had studied, recited, read and written these texts fluently and proficiently, he became interested in studying another formula of the Na complete formula, because while he was in the south he had not studied it in detail and had to return to Ayutthaya first because his father was ill.
- The Yantra formula that Ajarn Heng was interested in was the Yantra Na 9 Hechatri, which is another branch of Yantra knowledge. There were few people who were knowledgeable in this area, but there was one who was knowledgeable, namely Luang Por Klan Thammachote of Wat Phrayathikaram, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya. Ajarn Heng had known Luang Por Klan before, when Luang Por Klan was still a junior monk. However, at that time, Luang Por Klan had gained more knowledge of spells and incantations and had grown in Dharma. Ajarn Heng therefore came to ask for ordination at Wat Phrayathikaram, with Luang Por Klan as his preceptor. Ajarn Heng applied to be Luang Por Klan’s disciple, and Luang Por Klan’s knowledge was not recorded or compiled into a scripture. Anyone who wanted to study it had to pass it on by word of mouth, meaning they lived on opposite sides of the room. The teacher would tell them the spells and characters to memorize by themselves. The reason why there was no record may have been because they were afraid that the spells would fall to the floor when the paper fell or was discarded.
- (Picture of Luang Pho Klan Thammachoti, Wat Phrayatikararam, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province)
- The subjects that Master Heng studied from Luang Pho Klan were many branches, such as the Na 9 Hechatri Yantra, the golden needle embedding, and the Nana Yantra tattoo, which is the Narayana wheel that comes from the Itipiso Plang Rup (Narayana Plang Rup).
- While Ajarn Heng was studying at Wat Phrayathikaram, he had the opportunity to meet Luang Pu Si Phinthsuwanno and became familiar with each other because Luang Pu Si was ordained by Luang Pho Klan of Wat Phrayathikaram as his preceptor. Luang Pu Si was interested in occult sciences and came to study spells and Buddhist magic with Luang Pho Klan at Wat Phrayathikaram.
- (Picture of Luang Pu Si Phinthsuwanno, Wat Sakae, Uthai District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya)
- After studying the knowledge of various magic spells and tattooing with Luang Por Klan of Wat Phrayatikararam until completion, Ajarn Heng served Luang Por Klan for a while before disrobing and becoming a layman. After Ajarn Heng returned to be a layman in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, he began to gain fame and reputation as a teacher of occult science. He started as a tattooing teacher, meaning he would use red ink for tattooing. His students were therefore called Nakleng Yan Daeng or disciples of Ajarn Ruea Loi because he sailed all over the place. He preferred being on a boat rather than on land. When in Bangkok, he was on a boat in front of Wat Bophit Phimuk. When in Ayutthaya, he was in front of Wat Sakae.
- When his friends learned that he had great knowledge, they asked to be his disciples. Around 1933, the Boworadet Rebellion occurred, so many soldiers and government officials came to get tattooed by him. For this tattooing, Ajarn Heng organized the tattooing ceremony at Wat Hantra. Ajarn Heng invited Luang Pu Si Phinthasuwanno to lead the monks in the ceremony. Ajarn Heng’s tattooing required setting up a royal umbrella and flag, and making an altar to worship 108 Arahants. The monks chanted incantations, while Ajarn Heng would tattoo and chant incantations at the same time.
- After that, whenever Ajahn Heng would perform a ceremony, he would always invite Luang Pu Si to join the monks’ ceremony.
- Ajahn Heng was wealthy and had a permanent home in Thung Hanthra, a farm, and another house in Wang Noi District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya. When he had more disciples, especially those from Bangkok, to facilitate the teaching of knowledge, his disciples invited him to rent a house in Suan Mali and moved to a shophouse in front of the YMCA Worachak (until World War II, he moved to Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province, his original residence, between 1941-1942).
- When he came to Bangkok, it was an era when gangsters and triads flourished. The triads worshiped Luang Pho Mo of Wat Sam Chin, while the gangsters worshiped Luang Pho Run Kao Yot. In addition, there were also red Yantra of Ajarn Heng, the Sam Chin tricycles, and disciples of Luang Pu Thong of Wat Ratchayotha, and Father Kaew Khamwibun, etc.
- While in Bangkok, Ajarn Heng parked his boat in front of Wat Cheng Len, Saphan Han (Wat Bophit Phimuk). He had many disciples of all kinds, including officials of the Ministry of Education, soldiers, police, ordinary people, and many hooligans. They had gold needle implants and Hanuman tattoos, etc. The police had to ask them to stop tattooing because many of his disciples had become bandits, which was difficult to suppress due to Ajarn Heng’s excellent invulnerability skills. When the country experienced great unrest, the government officials focused on the gangsters and triads, and Ajarn Heng was accused of being the leader of the gangsters.
- After being targeted by the government, Ajarn Heng returned to his hometown of Ayutthaya for a while, but did not go to stay at his relatives’ house. He continued to live in a boat in front of Wat Sakae and began making other amulets such as Takruts, four-faced Brahma coins, carved ivory, and many others.
- According to an uncle at Wat Sakae, he said:
- ” Grandpa Heng liked to park his boat in front of the temple. He would park for several days at a time. Grandpa Heng didn’t like to wear shirts. He was small and had a well-built body. He wore a loincloth and draped it over his shoulder. His wife, Grandma Chue, was with him. Grandpa Heng liked to drink coffee or iced tea. He would buy it for him from children who ran by. He was a kind man with a somewhat of a gangster personality. He spoke bluntly and loudly. Every day, his disciples would come by the boat to ask for a yantra cloth. Sometimes they would come up to get it stamped at Wat Sakae. Sometimes they would come to get a tattoo or ask for a takrut. Most of the time, I saw him handing out silver takruts, as far as I can remember.”
- From this statement, it is consistent with what the descendants of Master Heng said:
- "My grandfather lives in the water, not on land, because when he is on land he is passionate about his craft. When he comes to Bangkok, he will drive a boat, a motorboat, from Ayutthaya, then park near Saphan Phut, then come by boat, and return by boat, a boat with a steering wheel. My grandfather will not stay in one place. His children and grandchildren will meet him only when performing ceremonies, such as the ceremony to pay homage to the teacher, which is held at Ban Worachak every Thursday. But if consecrating items, it will be done at Wat Sakae, in the chapel. When he came to perform ceremonies at Ban Worachak, he had many disciples."
- "His grandfather would wear only red cloth, a red loincloth, with the ends long. Any cloth would be red. His grandfather would wear a loincloth and a chongkhong on top. He didn't wear a shirt or pants like other people. Sometimes he would wear a red loincloth draped around his neck. Most of the time, his grandfather wouldn't wear clothes. It was hot and dangerous. He didn't wear the same things as the rest of us. He wore a big amulet. Wherever he went, people would look at him."
- Another person said that Ajarn Heng would wear a red cloth, but it was a sarong.
- “Wearing a sarong and a white towel over it, I think he’s also wearing a red cloth.”
- “Teacher Heng has been here for a year. He lives on a boat near Sala Daeng (at Wat Sakae). He usually wears a sarong and a white towel over his head.”
- Ajarn Heng was very meticulous in accepting students because he foresaw that giving good things to bad people would cause trouble and cause bad karma to the teachers. Most of his students were seniors in the group of teachers, such as Khru Fu Phutthinan, a former student of Suankularb School, or even bankers and high-ranking government officials.
Another grandson of Ajarn Heng said,
“My own students were Khru Fu (Fu Phutthinan), Ajarn Wichian, Father Ajarn Wanchai (as the director)… There were 3 top students in Bangkok. Ajarn Wanchai was the one who named them.) - Ajahn Heng Praiyawan was a famous layman who passed away at Luang Pu Si Phinthasuwanno's kuti at Wat Sakae, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province on March 3, 1959, at the age of 74. Originally, his remains were enshrined at Wat Sakae, but at present, his remains have been moved to Wat Khanon, Nong Nam Som Subdistrict, Uthai District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province (Finally, his remains were enshrined under the base of his statue in the temple of Wat Khanon).
- On the day he died, his grandson, Phra Cheliaw Utmo, lit incense sticks to ask for the amulet that he had hung from his waist with a thread. He used a very sharp razor blade to try to cut the thread but it wouldn't cut through, so he gave up. But then the thread broke on its own and the amulet fell into the ditch and into the water. Luang Pu Si, who was there at the time, said, "He didn't give it to you. You don't have to go down and get it under the house."
- One of the granddaughters was interviewed and said
, “The original remains were at Wat Sakae. The reason for moving the remains was because the ground subsided and then moved to Wat Khanon. The real roots of Grandpa Heng are at Wat Khanon.”
- The famous laymen who were knowledgeable in magic spells during the same period were Ajarn Heng Praiwan, Ajarn Fon Disawang, and Ajarn Jab Suwan.
 |  |  |
| Teacher Heng Praiwan | Teacher Fon Disawang | Professor Jab Suwan |
| (1885-1959) | (1884-1946) | (1883-1958) |
- Compiled by Professor Phira Yaem Pradit, recorded for the next generation to know and remember, to pay homage to the teachers, to a layman who has been with Wat Sakae.
