Wat Phra Chetuphon

Wat Phra Chetuphon or Wat Pho.
วัดพระเชตุพนวิมลมังคลารามราชวรมหาวิหาร หรือวัดโพธิ์(th)

Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimonmangkhalaram Ratchaworamahawiharn is a first class Royal Monastery of Ratchaworamahawiharn. It was originally an old temple from the Ayutthaya period named Wat Photharam, but always called Wat Pho by the people. King Rama I had the entire temple restored in 1788 (B.E. 2331) and ordered that all Buddha images from deserted temples in the countryside be brought to the Ubosot (the Ordination Hall) to be enshrined there. After the temple dedication celebration was held in 1801 (B.E. 2344), it was renamed to Wat Phrachetuphon Wimonmangkhalawat. In the reign of King Rama III, the monastery received another grand renovation. The King also ordered that scattered intellectuals be brought to the temple and that texts be inscribed on marble slabs around the temple so that people could read and learn. As a result, the temple was regarded as Thailand's first university. In King Rama IV's reign, the temple was partly restored and renamed to Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimonmangkhalaram Ratchaworamahawiharn.  In the temple, which is considered to be King Rama I's favorite temple, there are many religious buildings and objects worthy of observation and study, including the Reclining Buddha, Phra Maha Chedi of four Kings, statues of hermits demonstrating the various positions of massage, and several Chinese stone warriors.
Adapted from an historical sign at Wat Phra Chetuphon.

Bangkok's oldest temple, the seventeenth-century Wat Po (daily 8am-5pm; B20) is most famous for housing the enormous statue of a reclining Buddha. It lies south of the Grand Palace, close to the Tha Thien express-boat pier. In 1832, Rama turned the temple into "Thailand's first university" by decorating the walls with diagrams on subjects such as history, literature and animal husbandry. The wat is still a centre for traditional medicine, notably Thai massage: a massage here costs B200 per hour. The elegant bot at the centre of the compound has beautiful teak doors decorated with mother-of-pearl, showing stories from the Ramayana, but it is the chapel of the Reclining Buddha, in the northwest corner of the courtyard, that draws the crowds. The image in question is a 45-metre-long gilded statue of plaster-covered brick, depicting the Buddha entering Nirvana. The beaming smile is five-metres wide, the vast black feet are beautifully inlaid with mother-of-pearl showing the 108 lakshanas or auspicious signs which distinguish the true Buddha.
www.ab-home.net/wat-phobangkok/

Categories: school, massage parlour, draw only border, wat, fenced area