Wat Ratchapradit

 temple, buddhist temple

Wat Ratchapradit Sathitmahasimaram Ratchaworawiharn
วัดราชประดิษฐสถิตมหาสีมาราม ราชวรวิหาร(Th)

Temple housing the sacred statue of Phra Buddha Sihing.
The first class Royal Monastery of Ratachaworawiharn was constructed due to King Rama IV's belief that traditional royal ceremonies required three temples, namely Wat Mahathat, Wat Ratchaburana and Wat Rajapradit. As Bangkok had neither Wat Rajapradit nor a Thammayutika Nikai temple close to the Grand Palace, and Wat Bowonniwetwiharn was not convenient for king and the royal families to travel back and forth, he then ordered that the new temple be built. In the reign of King Rama V, the ashes of King Ramah IV were kept underneath the principal Buddha image in the Ubosot (the Ordination Hall). The mural paintings in the Ubosot depict twelve royal ceremonies and a solar eclipse as memorial to King Rama IV's trip to observe the eclipse at Tambon Wako of Prachuap Khiri Khan province in 1868. The term "Racha-" is also spelled "Raja" and therefore this Wat's name is also spelled Wat Rajapraditsathitmahasimaram Rajavaravihara. Note that "wiharn" can also be spelled "viharn" since the Thai pronunciation of วิหาร is sometimes spelled using the German pronunciation for "v".