Wat Ratchabophit

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Wat Ratchabophit

Wat Ratchabophit (full name Wat Ratchabophit Sathit-Mahasimaram Ratcha Wora Maha Viharn - Thai วัด ราชบพิธ สถิต มหา สี มา ราม ราชวรวิหาร ) is a Buddhist temple ( wat ) in the Phra Nakhon district of Bangkok , the capital of Thailand . Wat Ratchabophit is a " First Class Royal Temple ".

history

Wat Ratchabophit was built by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) in 1869 and it took about 20 years to build. The king then invited monks of the Thammayut order to settle here. Wat Ratchabophit later became the residence of Prince-Patriarch Somdet Phrasangkharatchao Krommaluang Chinaworasiriwat (Thai: สมเด็จพระสังฆราช เจ้า กรมหลวง ชินวร สิริวั วั ฒ น์ ), a memorial next to the Phra Viharn in the form of a prang is dedicated to him.

construction

The layout of the temple is reminiscent of the Phra Pathom Chedi in Nakhon Pathom : a central chedi is surrounded by a round gallery ( Phra Rabieng ) . The gallery is interrupted by a building at each of the four cardinal points , in the east and west by so-called Viharn Thit, portal-shaped passages that form the entrance to the interior of the gallery, in the south by the " Phra Viharn " and in the north by the " Phra Ubosot " . All four buildings have short vestibules flanked by four pillars on each side. Gable fields and window frames are richly decorated, walls and pillars are covered from top to bottom with colored tiles made of Bencharong ceramics (also: "Benjarong", literally: five colors - Thai: เบญจรงค์ ; roughly: faience ).

Attractions

Mother-of-pearl inlay: the "Order of the White Elephant"
View from Khlong Lod to the Royal Cemetery
  • Phra Chedi (Thai: พระ เจดีย์ ) - the bell-shaped chedi in the “Sri Lanka style” is covered with orange tiles. The tip forms a golden ball, in which there is said to be a relic of the Buddha. Inside the chedi there is a stone Buddha statue in Lopburi style, which represents the "Buddha protected by a Naga". In the round base of the chedi there are 16 niches with Buddha statues in different poses.
  • Phra Ubosot (Thai: พระ อุโบสถ ) - the inside of the Phra Ubosot is in gilded Italian Gothic, the ideas for this design came from the king's visits to Europe. The three-meter-high wings of the entrance doors are decorated with mother-of-pearl inlays. They represent the various Thai orders and decorations , such as the Order of the Crown of Thailand , the Order of the White Elephant , the Order of Chula Chom Klao , the Order of the House of Chakri and the Order of the Nine Gems .
  • Drum tower (Hor Klong - Thai: หอก ลอง ) and bell tower ( Hor Rakhang - Thai: หอ ระฆัง ) - both are symmetrically arranged to the west and east of the Phra Viharn. The two-story buildings have a conical top. They are richly decorated with old Bencharong ceramics, Nagas and Erawan heads.
  • Changing room pavilion - in the north-east of Putthawat (Thai: เข ถ พุทธาวาส ), the “Holy District”, a small pavilion is set into the wall, on the outside of which there is an “elephant stop”. Here the king could comfortably enter the pavilion from his riding elephant, where he used to change his clothes before entering the sacred area.
  • In the Sanghawat (Thai: เข ถ สังฆ วา ส ), the separate living area of ​​the monks, numerous Buddha statues of the most diverse styles are set up. In the southern area is the Phra Thinang Si Tala Phirom (Thai: พระที่นั่งสี ต ลา ภิรมย์ ), the residence of a queen, later a crown prince, then the residence of the Supreme Patriarch.
  • Royal Cemetery - the western part of Wat Ratchabophit is occupied by a Royal Cemetery (Thai: สุสาน หลวง ). Here there are numerous, sometimes strange-looking mausoleums built in different styles: a Christian church, a collection of Chedis, Khmer towers like those in Angkor Thom . Members of the royal family were buried here, such as Princess Galyani Vadhana , but also members of deserving families such as the Bunnags . The Khlong Lod ("Straw Canal") flows past the western wall of the cemetery .

Illustrations

  • Soldier figures on the entrance doors to the temple

  • Round gallery with Chedi in the background, on the right the Phra Ubosot

  • ornate windows and doors

  • Inside the Phra Ubosot

  • Ornaments on the Phra Viharn

  • Detail of the tiles on the walls

  • The bell tower

  • Chedis in the cemetery

literature

  • Clarence Aasen: Architecture of Siam . Oxford University Press 1998, ISBN 983-56-0027-9
  • หนังสือ คู่มือ นำ ชม: กรุง รัตนโกสินทร์ (Krung Rattanakosin) . สารคดี กรุงเทพ ๆ ๒๕๔๗ (Sarakadee Press, Bangkok) ISBN 974-484-102-8

Web links

Commons : Wat Ratchabophit  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 13 ° 44 ′ 56.8 ″  N , 100 ° 29 ′ 50.3 ″  E