Bangkok Temples

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.

In this picture you can see a sign that invites everybody to make a donation by buying on of these buckets filled with usefull everyday items for monks. From the profit of the sales scholarships for Buddhist students are paid, and also electricity bills for the temple.
The buckets contain things such as plastic bowls to take a batch, cottonpads, ginger drinks, candles, incense sticks, water, washing detergent, noodles, tea, toothbrushes, small towels, a monks robe, toothpaste, matches, a sponge, paracetamol and toilet paper
The value of the bucket is written to be 275 baht – which equals about 6 Euro or 10 dollar. You should at least donate 100 baht or any other amount that you find appropriate.

Donation box. In front of the donation box there is a stack of envelopes, a piece of paper and a pen. Before people make merit they write the name of the deceased person they want to make merit for on an envelope, put the money in an envelope and put it in the donation box.

Here you can see the “american” version of a Thai temple dance. It’s nice that they did it, but in Thailand the dancers who perform these dances study for many years in University before they before and are much more skilled and graceful.

However, if you have never seen a Thai temple dance this video clip will give you an idea of what it looks like.

What is the best time to visit temples?
The best time to visit temples in Bangkok is early in the morning. Because later during the day it can get really hot and some temples, like the famous Wat Po temple or the Wat Pra Kaew temple can become really crowded with tourists during the day. Many temples close at 6pm, so you don’t want to show up too late. If there’s a special holiday some temples have celebrations that can go on until the late nighttime – but as I said, this is more an exception than a rule.

A Chedi is a a bell-shaped tower. Another word for chedi would be a pagoda or a stupa. It either contains a relic of the historical Buddha Ghautama or of a Thai king or an important Thai monk. Sometimes also important religious buddhist teachers are buried under a chedi (their ashes is stored under the chedi).

This one is a really nice video clip from the temple of dawn (Wat Arun)

Watch this video with a Thai tourguide in one of Bangkoks temples. If you can actually understand what said, congratulations

See this free video tour in the Wat Phra Keo temple in Thailand. Wat Phra Keo is where the Emerald Buddha is located and is the most revered buddhist shrine in Thailand. If you ever come to Thailand, there’s a 200 THB admission fee, around 5 USD and it’s well worth to explore such a huge temple complex.

The Wat Arun in Bangkok (also known as Temple of Dawn or Wat Chaeng) can be seen when you stand at the Chao Phraya river nearly the Wat Pho temple. It’s on the other side of the river (Wat Pho is on the East side of the river, Wat Arun is on the West side of the Chao Phraya River).
It has a very unique style compared to other temples in Bangkok. In general, Thai temples are very colorful, but this one is different. It’s decorated with seashells, pieces of Chinese porcelain and colored glass.

The temple was built before Bangkok became the capital of Thailand – back then it used to be Ayutthaya, which is located about one hour north of Bangkok.
According to the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) the temples “prang” is 104 meters high.