Wat Bowonniwet

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Entrance to Wat Bowon

Wat Bowonniwet Wihan (different spelling: Wat Bovonnivet , Wat Bovornives , short: Wat Bowon ; Thai : วัด บวร นิเวศ วิหาร , pronounced: [ wát bòwɔːnníwêt wíhǎːn ]) is a Buddhist temple ( Wat ) in the Phra Nakhon district of the capital Bangkok of Thailand . It is located in the northeast of the so-called Rattanakosin Island, the historical center of Bangkok.

Wat Bowonniwet is the center of the Thammayut-nikai , one of the two orders of Theravada Buddhist monks in Thailand. It is a First Class Royal Temple under the patronage of the Chakri Dynasty . Its most important Buddha statue is called Phra Phutthachinasi (Thai: พระพุทธ ชิน สีห์ ), it was made in Sukhothai style in 1357.

The headquarters of the Mahamakut Buddhist University is located on the grounds of Wat Bowonniwet .

A royal temple

Prince Bhikkhu Mongkut entered this temple as a monk in 1836. He was later appointed abbot. He held this office for many years before being crowned King of Siam in 1851 .

His great-grandson King Bhumibol Adulyadej was also ordained at Wat Bowonniwet for 15 days after he had already been crowned king. Bhumibol's mentor, Phra Yanasangworn, was later called to be abbot.

King Bhumibol's son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn , retired in 1978 like his father for 15 days as a novice at Wat Bowonniwet.

history

Originally there were two different temples on the site of today's Wat Bowonniwet: Wat Mai in the west and Wat Rangsee Suddhawas in the east, separated by a khlong (canal). Since Wat Mai was without an abbot during the reign of King Nang Klao (Rama III) , the king decided that his half-brother Prince Mongkut, who had previously made a name for himself in Buddhism, would take over this position.

Wat Mai had been founded a few years earlier by an uncle of the king. But the builder died before he could finish his work. King Nang Klao saw that the temple was almost deserted - only five monks lived in it. So he completed the construction and added a two-story European style residence for the new abbot. On January 11, 1837, after a great ceremony initiated by the king, Prince Mongkut was able to take his position as the new abbot of Wat Bowonniwet.

Only later, during the reign of King Prajadhipok (Rama VII), were the two temples combined to their present size.

Abbots

  • 1836–1851 Prince Mongkut (before his reign as King Mongkut / Rama IV. 1851–1868)
  • 1851–1892 Somdet Phra Maha Samana Chao Krom Phraya Pavares Variyalongkorn ( สมเด็จ พระ มหา สมณ เจ้ากรม พระยาป ว เร ศว ริ ยา ยา ลง กร ณ์ , "Prince Rurk", 8th Supreme Monastic Patriarch 1853-1892)
  • 1892–1921 Somdet Phra Maha Samana Chao Krom Phraya Vajirananavarorasa ( สมเด็จ พระ มหา สมณ เจ้า กรม พระยา วชิร ญาณ ว โร รส , "Prince Manusanagamanob", 10th Supreme Monk Patriarch 1900–1921)
  • 1921–1958 Somdet Phra Sangharat Chao Krommaluang Vajiranyanavongse (สมเด็จพระสังฆราชเจ้า กรม หลวง วชิร ญาณ วงศ์ "หม่อมราชวงศ์ ชื่น สุจิ ตฺ โต" , 13th Supreme Monk Patriarch 1945–1958)
  • 1958–1961 Phra Prommuni
  • 1961–2013 Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara Suvaddhana ( สมเด็จ พระ ญาณ สังวร สมเด็จพระสังฆราช "เจริญ สุว ฑฺ ฒ โน" , 19th Supreme Monk Patriarch 1989–2013)
  • 2015– Somdet Phra Vanarata (Chun Brahmagutto) ( สมเด็จ พระ วัน รัต "จุน ท์ พ รฺ หฺ ม คุ ตฺ โต" )

  • Prince Mongkut

  • Prince Pavares Variyalongkorn

  • Prince Vajiranyanavongse

  • Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara Suvaddhana

  • Somdet Phra Vanarata (Chun Brahmagutto)

Important buildings

Phutthawat

Phra Phuttha Chinasi (front), Luang Pho To (in the background)
  • The ubosot : The ubosot has a unique T-shape, the two side wings can be used as a viharn, while the large front wing represents the actual ubosot (ordination hall). The building is in the strongly Chinese-influenced style of the era of King Rama III. built. Special feature: there is no chofah , the triangular gable fields are richly decorated with stucco, the supporting pillars have a square floor plan. King Mongkut had the large entrance gates of the Ubosot decorated with gilded carvings by Chinese gatekeepers. His son, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) had the front porch renovated to lower it a little. Unusual: a gold-plated Bai Sema exactly in the middle does not stand in front of the ubosot, but is embedded in its front wall. To the left of the ubosot there are other old Bai Sema in red sandstone, which were brought here from a temple in Phetchaburi at the time of King Nang Klao (Rama III) .
    • The Buddha statues Phra Phuttha Chinasi (Thai: พระพุทธ ชิน สีห์ ) and Luang Pho To (in the background, Thai: หลวง พ่อ โต ) are inside the Ubosot. The large statue originally comes from Wat Sa Taphan in Phetchaburi. The Sukhothai-style bronze statue of the Phra Phuttha Chinasi was brought here from the northern viharn of Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat in Phitsanulok in 1829. It is framed by a wood-carved canopy and stands on a chiselled, stepped base. In front of the statue of Phra Phuttha Chinasi are two adorants , probably his two disciples Sariputta and Moggalana . In between in the middle are statues of three former prince abbots.
    • The walls of the ubosot are painted by the famous Thai painter Khrua In Khong , a contemporary of King Mongkut. They all represent parables of the Dhamma , the Buddhist teaching. Buildings and people in his pictures look very European. Since In Khong never traveled outside of Siam, historians believe that the artist got his inspiration from looking at European and American oil paintings of the time. (Examples can be seen on the website of the temple, see web links)
  • The large chedi is said to house a relic of the Buddha inside. The chedi of Wat Bowonniwet is very similar to the Phra Pathom Chedi in Nakhon Pathom . With a height of over 50 meters, it is actually quite large for a city temple. Originally it was plastered only in white, but after the renovation in 1964 it was covered with small golden mosaic stones. The chedi stands on a raised platform with a lower and an upper terrace, which can be reached by stairs from the east and west side. These steps are only open to the public once a year, on Khao Phansa Day, the day of retreat during the rainy season. On the upper terrace, in a little turret, which is crowned with a prang, stands the gilded statue of King Mongkut. Four more turrets in the four corners of the terrace each house a Buddha statue. The bell-shaped structure of the chedi itself is hollow inside and can be entered through entrances in all four directions. Inside there is another, smaller chedi that contains the relic. The small chedi stands on a cube-shaped base, which is decorated on all four sides with a relief on which four important stations from the life of the Buddha are depicted. The chedi itself is gilded.
  • South of the Great Chedi are two buildings in a Sino-Thai style. The northern one, close to the chedi, is called Viharn Geng , the slightly larger southern Viharn Phra Sasada .
    • In the Viharn Geng there are three Buddha statues, each cast for an abbot of the monastery: in the base of the Phra Phuttha Vajiranyana statue is part of the ashes of King Mongkut, in the Phra Phuttha Panna-Agga that of the prince-abbot Pavaret, a son of the Uparat of King Rama II , and in Phra Phuttha Manussanaga that of Prince-Abbot Vajiranyanavarorat, son of King Mongkut and half-brother of King Chulalongkorn.
    • In the Viharn Phra Sasada is the famous Buddha statue Phra Sasada, which provided the name for this building. It stands in the front room and faces east. It was created for the same monastery at the same time as the statue of Phra Phuttha Chinasi. A very beautiful statue from the Dvaravati period sits in front of Phra Sasada . In the back room there is an equally beautiful reclining statue named Phra Saiya.
  • The Bodhi Tree : Between the Viharn Phra Sasada and the west entrance there is a building that contains a lot of dusty Buddha statues. Inside the building is a square atrium with the temple's Bodhi tree in the middle. Such a building is called "Boddhagara". The offshoots of a Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya in India, which is believed to be the tree under which the Buddha received his enlightenment , were planted here by King Mongkut. However, this specimen did not survive the construction of the Boddhagara building. In 1982 King Bhumibol Adulyadej planted a new tree, which in turn was pulled from an offshoot of the tree in Bodhgaya.

Sangkhawat

Residence "Phra Tamnak Phet"
  • The Phra Tamnak Phet ( royal diamond residence ) was commissioned in 1914 by King Vajiravudh for his uncle and teacher the third abbot, Somdet Krommaphraya Vajirañāṇavarorasa . The fine artistic details make this building the most remarkable in the whole temple. In the past, this place was probably the first print shop operated by the Siamese. Prince Mongkut had Buddhist texts printed here during his time as abbot of Wat Bowonniwet. So far only a few printing presses have been with the Christian missionaries (see Dan Beach Bradley ). Phra Tamnak Phet has been used for various ceremonies in the past, even for the cremation celebrations of some deceased abbots. Today the Supreme Sangha Council, the supreme council of Thai Buddhists, meets here three times a month at the so-called "Maha Thera Samagom."
  • The Phra Tamnak Phanya ( Royal Phanya Residence ) is the oldest building in Wat Bowonniwet. It originally stood in the Royal Palace, where King Rama II had built it. His successor King Nang Klao had the house demolished stone by stone and rebuilt here in the temple. It was to serve as a residence for his half-brother Prince Mongkut, who was to take over the office of abbot here.
  • Phra Tamnak Chan ( royal moon residence ) was built by King Chulalongkorn in memory of his daughter, Princess Chantra-Saratvarn Kromakhun Pijit-Jesachan. Since the time of King Rama VI. it is used as an audience hall for the Buddhist prelate.
  • The Pra Tamnak Lang is also an impressive residence building that King Chulalongkorn for his brother, the Prince Abbot Somdet Krommaphraya Vajirananavarorasa built before he became abbot. After he was appointed abbot, the house was allowed to be used as a school building for monks and novices. Today it serves as a training institute for bhikkhus who will go abroad, but also as the headquarters and meeting room for the monks of the Thammayut denomination.

literature

  • Prince Chula Chakrabongse of Thailand: Lords Of Life, The Paternal Monarchy Of Bangkok . Alvin Redman Ltd., London 1960 (without ISBN)
  • AB Griswold : King Mongkut Of Siam . The Asia Society, New York 1961, distributed by The Siam Society Bangkok, no ISBN

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Page from Wat Bowonniwet on Phra Tamnak Phet (in Thai and English)

Web links

Coordinates: 13 ° 45 ′ 37.9 ″  N , 100 ° 30 ′ 0 ″  E