Thai Temple Wall-Decoration of Colored Mirror Glass Mosaic
Typical multicolored glass-mirror decoration of a Thai temple in Bangkok.
Colorful glass mirrors are used in a mosaic fashion to decorate the walls of Bangkok temples. This is very unique to Buddhistic temples in Thailand, specially in Bangkok and is in sharp contrast to Japanese zen-temples who are very basic and plain.
In the detailed close up shot of one of the green circles which represent the inside of a flower you can see how much nitty-gritty work is being invested in the decoration. You can see an opposing wall with a motorcycle leaned on it being reflected in the mirror tiles. (You can click on the image to enlarge it).
It took 26 specially shaped pieces of green mirror just to create this – all being put into the wall by hand. If you look at the bigger picture of the wall you can see the green circle in the lower quarter of the screen – compare that to the upper half and think about how much effort and time was being put into decoration this temple – since this is just a tiny part of a big temple, which is again just part of a bigger temple complex.
This is also one reason why when you go to rural areas in Thailand many temples will be a lot simpler and not as fancy – because it just takes large amounts of money to built such a temple. But in Bangkok temples are doing pretty well in general and have multiple income streams – based on people making donations, services that the monks provide to the people and sales of amulets and other spiritual items that are believed to protect against evil and bring good luck.
