- Kind
- Temple
- Tradition
- Theravada
- Founded
- Ayutthaya period (date unknown); rebuilt from 1788
- Town
- Bangkok
Photo by Diego Delso (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram, known as Wat Pho, is first on the list of six temples in Thailand of the highest royal grade. It predates the city, with origins in the Ayutthaya period, and King Rama I began its restoration in 1788. Wikipedia says it became his main temple and holds some of his ashes.
The temple is best known for the Reclining Buddha (Phra Buddhasaiyas), a 46-metre image built by King Rama III in 1832 that represents the Buddha’s entry into nirvana. Its feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl in 108 panels showing the auspicious symbols by which a buddha is recognised.
Wat Pho is also the historical home of traditional Thai medicine and Thai massage. King Rama III, who enlarged the temple from 1832, had marble inscriptions and statues made that record medical and other knowledge, and Wikipedia calls the temple Thailand’s earliest centre for public education. UNESCO added its 1,431 stone inscriptions to the Memory of the World register in 2011. The temple still houses a school of Thai medicine, and Thai massage is taught and practised there.
Visiting
Open daily; the temple's own site gives current hours and the admission fee. Modest dress is required (shoulders and knees covered) and shoes are removed before entering shrine halls. Traditional Thai massage is taught and offered at the temple.
Related places
1
Nearby
within 150 km, straight line
Read more
Sources and verification
3
Written from published sources by the volunteer editors. Not yet reviewed by an outside advisor.
- OrganisationWat Pho: official history page (Rama I's restoration from 1788)
- ReferenceWikipedia: Wat Pho (first of the six highest-grade royal temples; Rama I's main temple; Reclining Buddha built by Rama III in 1832, 46 m, entry into Nirvana, 108 panels of auspicious symbols on the feet; school of Thai medicine and massage)
- ArchiveUNESCO Memory of the World: Epigraphic Archives of Wat Pho (inscribed 2011)
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