|
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.
Your Tip for Wat Po
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Wat Po - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Wat Po - visit the main Wat Po forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Wat Po webguide section below! Thanks.
| 
