Somdej Toh known formally as Phra Buddhacharn Toh Phomarangsi, was one of the most famous Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 monks during Thailand's

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 Rattanakosin Period.

Biography

Somdej Toh was born in Kamphaeng Phet Province

Kamphaeng Phet Province

Kamphaeng Phet is one of the provinces of Thailand, located in the north of the country. Neighboring provinces are Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phichit, Nakhon Sawan and Tak.- Etymology :...

, possibly the son of King Rama I. He studied the Buddhist scriptures of the Pāli Canon

Pāli Canon

The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...

 with several Buddhist masters. After becoming a well-known monk, he became the preceptor for Prince Mongkut

Mongkut

Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramenthramaha Mongkut Phra Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama IV, known in foreign countries as King Mongkut , was the fourth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, ruling from 1851-1868...

, later King Rama IV, when Mongkut became a monk. During Rama IV's reign Somdej Toh was given the ceremonial name Phra Buddhacharn Toh Phomarangsi.

He was noted for the skill of his preaching and his use of Thai poetry to reflect the beauty of Buddhism, and for making amulets call Somdej. The amulets were blessed by himself and other respected monks in Thailand. He also appears in many versions of the story of Nang Nak

Nang Nak

Nang Nak is a romantic tragedy and horror film directed by Nonzee Nimibutr in 1999 through Buddy Film and Video Production Co. in Thailand, based on a legend. It features the life of a devoted ghost wife and the unsuspecting husband.-Plot:...

.