2017-11 Wat Pho (Bangkok, Thailand)

A "wat" in Thailand is Buddhist monastery or temple. Wat Pho was the first "wat" that I visited in Thailand. It's located not far from the Grand Palace in Rattanakosin Island in Bangkok.

Giant reclining Buddha

The main feature of this temple is a reclining Buddha. It is gigantic! Housed within it's own temple, the Buddha stretches 46 meter (150 ft) long and 15 meter (50 ft) tall. The Buddha was built by Rama III in 1832. It was built out of bricks and then entirely gilded in gold. Even just entering the building and seeing the Buddha's head high above is impressive. The interior walls of the temple housing the reclining Buddha are covered in intricate mural paintings with gold leaf detailing.

Mural paintings inside the temple

 We removed our shoes and carried them in a red plastic bag provided by the temple. Entering on the right side, we first saw the Buddha's face high above us. We shuffled through on bare or stockinged feet, stopping to try to get good photos between the pillars holding up the temple ceiling. The entire time, we could hear dinging, like the sound of coins being thrown into something metal.

Metal bowls for donations along left outer wall

Then, we were shuffling past the Buddha's feet, ornately decorated on the soles in mother of pearl. Outside, we attempted to take full-length photos of the Buddha through the screen's over the windows. Then, we were shuffling past the back of the Buddha. Now, we could see where the pinging noise had came from: we could pay 20 baht for a container of coins to put into metal donation bowls along the outer wall of the temple. 

Traditional medical school

While the reclining Buddha is the main attraction at Wat Pho, it also houses the first public university within Thailand. According to Wikipedia, the traditional medical portion of the school wasn't started until 1955. We looked at the diagrams drawn on the walls for the students' learning. Even today, the traditional Thai massage continues within Wat Pho.

Stuppa for one of the King Rama's ashes

In addition, there are several temples with Buddhas, stuppas for kings' ashes and galleries full of Buddhas, both sitting and standing. A person can pay to be buried under one of the Buddhas in the galleries. Overall, the complex is immense. I visited it three times; and, each time, I saw something and learned something new.

Chinese Confucious scholar sculpture. We were told that it was brought over simply because the ships needed more ballast

Quick notes:

- admission for non-Thais is 100 Baht. Exact change ONLY

- open 8-6:30

- wear shoes that you can slip off to enter the many temples

- if you are not dressed appropriately, you will be provided with an appropriate covering