Wat Arun, Temple of the Dawn taken on a previous holiday from the other side of the river.
I never have data when I go out and it is hard to stay in touch with Peter, so he made me buy a local SIM card and that way I can not only stay in touch, but also look things up when I am out. Thus it was that I set out supposedly fully prepared on my explorations.
I walked along the busy road from our hotel to Petchaburi Station. This time I went the shorter way into oncoming traffic. It was very unpleasant to say the least. At the MRT I paid around 42 baht to get to Itsaraphap Station on the Thonburi side of the river. I had hoped this would be a raised station and that I'd be able to see where I was going, but it wasn't. I typed a Google maps journey onto my phone and followed it. It took me straight to Wat Arun, The Temple of the Dawn. Impressive, isn't it? Except I wasn't trying to get to The Temple of the Dawn. I was trying to get to Santa Cruz Church. I obviously am not too great at following directions. Nonetheless, since I ended up at Wat Arun, I thought I might as well visit it. I think this is the third time I have been here, but my last visit was many years ago.
Entry to Wat Arun is free if you are Thai, and costs 200 baht if you are not. You are given a bottle of water after you buy your ticket. This is lucky, as you are going to need it. In fact I'd discovered I wasn't that far from where I wanted to go and intended to go there later, but as I got way too much sun exploring Wat Arun, I didn't go anywhere else in the end.
Wat Arun Ratchawararam, normally shortened to Wat Arun, is named after Aruna, the Hindu god of the dawn. It was built by King Taksin around 1768. He was forced to flee the then Thai capital of Ayutthaya, when it was attacked by the Burmese. He fled all the way to Thonburi on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River, and arrived there just as dawn was breaking. That's why he built a temple to the dawn.
King Taksin.
Wat Arun is best viewed from the other side of the Chao Phraya River, from where you can appreciate its unusual shape. The structure of the temple is an architectural representation of Mount Meru, the center of the world in Buddhist cosmology. The seventy metre high central prang of Wat Arun is surrounded by four smaller prangs. These are decorated with fragments of coloured glass and porcelain which have been arranged into intricate patterns.
Arriving at the famous part of the temple.
Prangs stretching up to the sky.
Prangs stretching up to the sky.
Viewed from a different angle.
Steep stairway.
Steep stairway.
King Taksin brought the sacred Emerald Buddha with him when he fled Ayutthaya and later placed it here in Wat Arun, but when the capital of Thailand changed from Thonburi on the west side of the Chao Phraya River to Bangkok on the east side, the Emerald Buddha was moved to Wat Phra Kaew in the Grand Palace.
It's possible to climb half way up the main prang of the temple. I'm sure it used to be possible to go higher as I have photos of spectacular views from here, but I wasn't high enough up for these this time. The temple was also much busier than I remember it. I'm almost certain the first time Peter and I came here, we largely had the whole temple to ourselves.
There are several statues of Chinese soldiers and animals at the foot of the main prang of the temple. I read that on the second terrace there are statues of the Hindu god Indra riding on an elephant. Apparently right at the top of the temple there is a king's crown.
Chinese soldier.
Chinese soldier.
Animal statue.
Animal statue.
I began by exploring the main prangs of the temple. It was very crowded and difficult to move around. I liked the rows of fierce guardians protecting the temple.
Guardians.
Guardians.
I also liked the many colourful waterlilies at the bottom of the temple.
Waterlilies.
Waterlily.
Waterlilies.
Many people were wearing traditional Thai clothes and posing for photographs. That seems to be a popular reason to come here. I took some pictures of the people who were dressed up, as their clothes were beautiful.
Beautiful lady in beautiful clothes.
Group photo.
So elegant with a parasol.
Radiant smiles, colourful clothes.
Traditional posed photo.
Checking the results.
So elegant with a parasol.
Happy smiling couple.
Very serious about getting it right.
Wonderful backdrop for photos.
Parasols and elephants.
The temple complex also has a beautiful ordination hall containing a Buddha image called the Niramitr Buddha. The walls of this hall are covered with very detailed paintings.
Guarding the gate outside the ordination hall.
Ordination hall.
Buddha inside the ordination hall.
Paintings inside the ordination hall.
On the waterfront there are six Chinese style pavilions that contain landing bridges. These were used during the Royal Barge Procession at the end of Buddhist Lent when the king would travel by river to deliver new robes to the monks.
There are temple buildings filled with golden Buddhas everywhere. I also found a bed belonging to a king and watched people receiving blessings from monks.
Buddhas everywhere.
Buddhas everywhere.
More Buddhas.
Buddha.
Buddha.
Buddha.
Monk with gold leaf.
Bed of a king.
Statue.
Receiving a blessing.
There were lots of stone statues all over the grounds of the temple. Apparently some of these used to be ballast for ships.
Statues.
Statue.
Statue.
Statue.
Statue.
Statue.
Statue.
Statue.
Statue.
I was beginning to feel really sunstruck after wandering around this temple, so I made my way back to the MRT station. I passed a canal and some interesting statues outside a restaurant.
Outside a restaurant.
On my walk back to my hotel, I stopped to photograph some colourful street art.
Street art.
Street art.
That evening we ate in the lounge and there was another beautiful sunset.
Peter in the club lounge.
Another beautiful sunset.
This featured blog entry was written by irenevt from the blog Return To The City of Angels..
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