Wat Pho (Thai: วัดโพธิ์, IPA: [wát pʰoː]) is a Buddhisttemple in Phra Nakhon district, Bangkok, Thailand. It is located in the Rattanakosin district directly adjacent to the Grand Palace.[2] Known also as theTemple of the Reclining Buddha, its official name isWat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan[3] (Thai: วัดพระเชตุพนวิมลมังคลารามราชวรมหาวิหาร; IPA: [wát pʰráʔ tɕʰêttupʰon wíʔmon maŋkʰlaːraːm râːttɕʰawɔːráʔmahǎːwíʔhǎːn]). The temple is also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage.[4]

HistoryEdit

Wat Pho is named after a monastery in India where Buddha is believed to have lived.[5] Prior to the temple's founding, the site was a centre of education for traditional Thai medicine, and statues were created showing yoga positions. An enormous Buddha image from Ayuthaya's Wat Phra Si Sanphet was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767; King Rama I(1782-1809 A.D.) incorporated its fragments to build a temple to enlarge and renovate the complex.[6] The complex underwent many changes in the next 260 years. Under King Rama III (1824-1851 A.D.), plaques inscribed with medical texts were placed around the temple.[7] These received recognition in the Memory of the World Programmelaunched by UNESCO on February 21, 2008.[8]Adjacent to the building housing the Reclining Buddha is in a small raised garden, the centrepiece being a bodhi tree which is propagated from the original tree in India where Buddha sat while awaiting enlightenment. The temple was created as a restoration of an earlier temple on the same site, Wat Phodharam, with the work beginning in 1788. The temple was restored and extended in the reign of King Rama III, and was restored again in 1982.

Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest wats in Bangkok (with an area of 50 rai, 80,000 square metres),[9] and is home to more than one thousandBuddha images, as well as one of the largest single Buddha images of 160 ft length:[10] the Reclining Buddha (Phra Buddhasaiyas, Thai พระพุทธไสยาสน์). The Wat Pho complex consists of two walled compounds bisected by Soi Chetuphon running east–west. The northern walled compound is where the reclining Buddha and massage school are found. The southern walled compound, Tukgawee, is a working Buddhist monastery with monks in residence and a school. Outside the temple, the grounds contain 91 chedis (stupas or mounds), fourviharas (halls) and a bot (central shrine). 71 chedisof smaller size contains the ashes of the royal family, and 21 large ones contain the ashes of Buddha.[11] The four chedis are dedicated to the fourChakri kings.[4] The temple has sixteen gates around the complex guarded by Chinese giants carved out of rocks.[5] These statues were originally imported as ballast on ship trading with China.[11]The outer cloister has images of 400 Buddhas out of the 1200 originally bought by king Rama V. In terms of architecture, these are varied in different styles and postures, but these are evenly mounted on matching gilded pedestals.[5] The main temple is raised in marble platform punctuated by mythological lions in the gateways. The exterior balustrade has around 150 depictions of the epic,Ramakien, the ultimate message of which is transedence from secular to spiritual dimensions.[5]