Page 47 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Bangkok

Buddhist Temples ❮❮ 45

TOP 10 ELEMENTS OF A THAI
TEMPLE COMPOUND
1 Wihan
The main assembly hall of a temple,
where the head abbot gives sermons
and people come to pray.
2 Bot
The ordination hall, which is usually
smaller than the wihan. Highly
decorated, it is off-limits to women.
3 Chedi
These dome-shaped religious
monuments, or stupas, have relics
sealed within their base.
Golden chedi at Wat Phra Kaeo
4 Bodhi Tree
Wat Phra Kaeo
8 This tree (Ficus religiosa) symbolizes
Enlightenment, as the Buddha is said
For many visitors, the
high light of their stay in Bangkok is to have been sitting beneath a Bodhi
tree when he attained Nirvana.
a visit to Wat Phra Kaeo, to see
beautiful examples of Buddhist art 5 Ho Trai
and architecture. It features a The library in each temple stores
glittering array of chedis, libraries, sacred texts and is often raised off the
ground to avoid flood damage.
mausoleums, and the small jadeite
Buddha that is the nation’s greatest 6 Guti
treasure (see pp12–15). These are the monks’ living quarters in
a temple complex – sometimes a small,
Wat Ratchabophit
9 austure wooden room set on stilts.
7 Murals
MAP C4 • Fuang
Nakhon Road • 02 221 Temple murals depict incidents from
the life of the Buddha, and some
1888 • Open record scenes of Thai daily life.
5am–8pm daily;
bot: open 8 Buddha Images
Usually the most highly valued
9–9:30am, Buddha image is placed in the
5:30–6pm daily wihan. Other images may sit or
A blend of local and stand in the bot or cloisters.
Western architecture, 9 Monks
this temple was built in These are holy men who follow the
the late 19th century Buddha’s teachings and advise lay
by Rama V (see p40). Detail people on their problems.
Its 141-ft (43-m) of Wat 10 Novices
chedi is surrounded Ratchabophit Young men live as novices in the temple
by clois ters, into before being ordained as monks.
which are set a wihan and a bot
designed like an Italian Gothic chapel.
Wat Pho
0
Bangkok’s biggest and oldest
temple, Wat Pho’s main attraction is
its 150-ft- (46-m-) long Reclining
Buddha. This wat is more typical of
temples country wide than Wat Phra
Kaeo because it has resident monks
who live in simple lodgings within
the complex. It also runs a respected A Buddha’s head in a Bodhi tree
school of massage (see pp18–19).

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