Ajarn Iat: From Wat Khao O to Wat Don Sala
The tradition of Wat Khao O in southern Thailand did not remain within one monastery. Its teachers and pupils carried their learning into neighbouring communities, and Phra Ajarn Iat Padumsaro (พระอาจารย์เอียด ปทุมสโร) became one of the most memorable figures in that story. A disciple of Ajarn Thong Thao, he went on to lead Wat Don Sala in Phatthalung. His life joins the history of two temples with the everyday concerns of the people around them.
A childhood shaped by Wat Khao O
Biographical accounts give his lay name as Iat Thong-o and record his birth on 22 February BE 2425 (1882) at Ban Don Nut in Makok Nuea, Khuan Khanun. His parents were Rot and Phat, and he had a younger brother named Kaew. After his father's death, his mother took him to Ajarn Thong Thao at Wat Khao O. There he learned to read and write Thai and Khmer script.
In BE 2447 (1904), he was ordained at Wat Khao O, with Thong Thao as his preceptor, and received the monastic name Padumsaro. His education encompassed the Dhamma and monastic discipline as well as the herbal knowledge, scripts and ceremonial traditions for which the Khao O school became known. Those years of learning prepared him for a role that would eventually take him beyond the temple where he had grown up.
The prayer beads and a new monastery
When the abbot of Wat Don Sala, Ajarn Kliang, died, local residents asked for Iat to lead their temple. A Thai amulet column preserves a striking detail of his departure: Thong Thao had hoped his pupil might succeed him at Wat Khao O, yet answered the villagers' request and gave Iat his own prayer beads before he left. In the remembered story, a teacher's personal object marks the passing of trust from one generation to another.
At Wat Don Sala, Iat served his community as an abbot, preceptor and local monastic leader. He received a phra khru title in BE 2473 (1930) and the ecclesiastical title Phra Khru Sitthiyaphirat in BE 2480 (1937). Villagers continued to address him affectionately as Pho Than Iat or Pho Than Don Sala.
A school, waterways and roads
The accounts of his life also describe a monk deeply involved in local development. He helped establish a public school within the temple and a permanent school building, led work to clear silted waterways, and helped make a road linking the temple with the Khuan Khanun–Pak Khlong route. People sought his help in times of difficulty and invited him to mediate disagreements. The monastery was not only a place of ceremony: it was part of the community's daily life.
His links with Wat Khao O continued. Southern regional accounts describe the enduring relationship between Iat and his fellow pupil Ajarn Pan Paldhammo, who led Wat Khao O. Later, Ajarn Nam Chinwaro, another important figure in the Wat Don Sala story, was also described in Thai reporting as Iat's pupil. The lineage thus extends through teachers, fellow pupils and the generations that followed them.
Sacred objects in a time of conflict
In BE 2483 (1940), amid the Franco-Thai border conflict, accounts say Iat prepared sacred objects for soldiers and civilians as a source of encouragement. Particularly associated with him are the Khao O Phra Pidta Maha Yan and Phra Maha Wan. The former belongs to a tradition of metal casting and inscribed yantras; the latter is associated with herbal and powder ingredients. A Thai amulet column recounts that the objects were taken to Wat Khao O for a ceremony involving other members of the lineage before being distributed to soldiers and villagers.
For a collector, these objects invite attention not only to shape and material but to the history they carry: Thong Thao's teaching, Iat's years at Wat Don Sala, Khao O methods, and the hopes invested in objects people kept close during wartime. A commemorative medal bearing his name followed in BE 2498, extending the story of his legacy into another generation.
Ajarn Iat died on 23 December BE 2491 (1948), aged 66. The school, community works, teacher–pupil relationships and sacred-object tradition all help explain why his name continues to be remembered in Phatthalung. To explore an object associated with him is also to follow a southern Thai lineage from Wat Khao O to Wat Don Sala.