THAILAND: WAT PHO, HOUSES THE MAJESTIC RECLINING BUDDHA

Inside What Pho temple. You will see numbers of small and huge Stupas, an icon of Kingdom of Thailand.

I honestly feel sorry for not learning its history prior to our visit. I’m sure there’s a good story of symbolism behind its design, structure and position. Regardless, it’s a sight to behold. It is indeed obligatory for oneself to know the history each time we visit a certain place. Thus, first day of our trip to Thailand is visiting this majestic image of reclining Buddha.

HOW TO GET HERE:

Simply hop on the nearest BTS Station and make your way to the Saphan Taksin station. Use Exit 2 and walk along the pathway leading to the Central Pier.

At the Chao Phraya Boat Terminal, Chao Phraya River.

At the Central Pier, you have two (2) options to get to Wat Pho. First is to take the Chao Phraya Tourist (Blue) boat with tickets priced at 40 THB per head. Second is to take the boat with Orange or Green Flag and alight at Tha Chang (Pier N9); fare is at 15 THB per head. If you seek comfort during your trip, I suggest that you select the first option as the Chao Phraya Tourist boat is not as crowded as the ordinary ones.

We alighted at the Tha Chang Station (Pier N9). Truth is, we do not know exactly which way to go. But my instinct tells me to follow other tourists (usually Caucasians). So we did and true enough, we ended at the door of the Wat Pho. It is not really hard to spot given that tourists would flock this area. It is only a few meters (to the right) away from the ferry station.

One of the boat service in Chao Phraya river.

When we alight at the pier station, we just followed the crowd since most of them are going to the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok. Standing outside the beautiful temple, I was already enthralled, the architecture and style will surely tell you how beautiful and rich the Thai culture is. The roof has this golden sharp ends that brought its unique elegance.

In order for you to get in, entrance fee would be 100 THB.

This is what the Temple of Wat Pho looks like from the outside.

INSIDE WAT PHO TEMPLE

Having said that Wat Pho is the oldest and largest temple, but the mainstream of your visit is to witness this majestic reclining Buddha. I know it’s just huge but I didn’t really expect how gigantic it is. This reclining Buddha measures 15m high and 43m long so I can’t really describe how massive it is. The interior of the house are all covered with different Buddhist and Thai symbols and arts. And note that every small detail of these symbols were all painted by hands.

And by the way before you can get inside, you will have to take off your shoes or you can ask for a foot sacks. They also have this silky bathrobe to cover your body especially girls wearing tiny shorts and hanging shirts.

A close look of the head of Buddha.

Thumbs up. Look how big it is. It is shimmering in golden shades.

The toe of reclining Buddha and the marks.

A close look on the details sculptured on the foot of Buddha and the wallpapers.

An old and small image of Buddha where you can pray and offer.

While walking around this glossy statue, you will hear sounds of zen-like jingle being dropped into copper bowls. I thought it was like recorded music that being played inside the hall. And I was right; people are piling into these 108 bronze bowls lined up on the wall behind the statue. These bowls are indicating 108 auspicious character of Buddha. It is said to believe that these will bring good fortune. The donations will be used help the monks for maintenance of the temple. You will just have to exchange your 20 THB and they will give you a bowl full of coins.

These are the 108 bronze bowls that will bring fortune.

After visiting this hall, it’s about time to go around this huge temple of Bangkok. It’s actually a temple within a temples. And each section has the largest collections of Buddha images in the whole country. It’s over thousands of images. The entire temple is so quaint, deserved to be posted across social networking sites especially Instagram. There is no specific direction to follow; it’s up to you where to go depending on your interests but every nook and corner of this temple are all stunning. I’m sure that one day is not enough to conquer the whole temple.