We finally visited the renowned Grand Palace not far from Chao Phraya River and across the road from Wat Pho.
The palace and various administrative buildings were located west of the river but King Rama I considered this location unsuitable and in 1782, established the capital in Bangkok. To house the country’s most precious Buddha image, he had Wat Phra Kaeo constructed and the Grand Palace followed in 1874. It covers 218,000 square metres and is surrounded by high walls – which as it turns out, has protected the grounds from flooding. No royal family has lived here since the early 20th C.
The Palace and temple are open every day except for royal ceremonies. It isn’t cheap: 400 baht each and an extra 500 for a guide. We opted for a guide otherwise the buildings would have just been buildings without any importance. The admission price includes Dusit Park exhibits at another location.
Wat Phra Kaeo, regarded as Thailand’s most sacred Buddhist temple, serves as the royal family’s chapel but unlike other temples, no resident monks live here. There are over 100 buildings in the complex, many over 200 years old and some regarded as architectural experimentation. As you enter, you encounter fierce looking yaksha (mythical giants) that guard the gates. They are colourful decorated in pieces of ceramic and over 5 metres tall.
The temple complex is surrounded by a wall about 2 km in length and covered in 178 murals depicting the story of Ramayana. There are also various shrines, pavilions, and pagodas. On the upper terrace, the cone shaped Phra Si Ratana Chedi built in Sri Lankan style is encased in solid gold tile.
Beside it is the library Phra Mondop built in Thai style with mother of pearl doors and houses Buddhist scriptures inscribed on palm leaves.
A model of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat was crafted by the order of Rama IV when Cambodia was under Thai rule. Beside it are statues of elephants that signify independence and power. The head of the elephant is often rubbed for good luck and parents would make children circle the statues three times to ensure strength.
The final building on this terrace is the Royal Pantheon that keeps life sized statues of past sovereigns hidden away inside as the public is not permitted to enter any of these buildings. The Royal Pantheon is covered in gorgeous tile that sparkled in the sun.
The most important building is the Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha located in the centre of the complex. The roof is polished green and orange tiles, pillars are inlaid with mosaic, and murals depicting the life of Buddha cover the inner walls.
Inside sits the Emerald Buddha carved from a block of green jade. Legend has it that the image originated in India 500 years after Buddha attained nirvana but disappeared when Burmese raiders sacked Ayuttaya. It reappeared in Chieng Rai in 1434 when a lightning storm hit the temple knocking the statue to the ground. The fall had chipped away some of the plaster covering the statue revealing green underneath. The monks removed the plaster discovering the image was pure jade.
The image is carved in the yogic position of meditation and sits 26 inches in height. There are three styles of dress that cover the image: winter, summer and rainy. The king himself cleans the image and is the master of ceremonies during the changing of the seasonal garments. As with any temple, we had to remove our shoes, not point our feet at the image and not take photos.
In front of the Monastery sit two stupas housing the ashes of members of the royal family. Each stupa is protected by demons thought to have great power.
The temple complex was outstanding - and overwhelming. Everything sparkled and the detailing provided visual delight. Following this, we entered the central court where the royal residence and halls of business were located. I read that is customary for the King to spend one night here after his coronation. Once you enter this area, you cannot return to the temple grounds.
The first building we saw (through locked gates) was the ‘guest’ house where visiting Heads of State and guests of royalty stay. The building has on occasion been used as a royal residence. The next building was the Chakri Maha Prasat completed in 1882 with its central throne hall used for receptions and state banquets. The building is fronted by an expansive lawn and a corrections museum lies underneath. Guards stand at attention at both sides of the building for one hour intervals.
The last royal building was the Dusit Hall used for the annual coronation day ceremony and for the lying in state of kings, queens and honoured members of the royal family. According to our guide, the custom is to keep the body of the deceased 100 days before cremation. Currently the sister of the King (or previous King?) was being held there.
Behind the central court lies the inner court where the King’s consorts and daughters lived. The inner court was like a small city populated by women and boys under the age of puberty and even though no royalty lives there, it remains closed to the public. Our guide said it is now a school for girls.
We visited the small museum on site that had a great model of the palace grounds, the various dress for the Emerald Buddha, and many Buddha statues in all sorts of shapes, sizes and poses. We said goodbye to our guide and headed off for some lunch.
On route to our lunch spot we walked down amulet alley where many vendors sell various amulets as well as other wares. Even monks were out looking about.
There are of course several areas to buy spices, food, and dried fish – tiny dried shrimp often find their way into Thai cooking.
Wat Arun
To get to the temple we took a water taxi for 3 baht (10 cents). The ferry terminal which typically has stores and small restaurants was totally flooded but an elevated walkway enabled us to make it to the pier and taxi dry.
From here you could see some of the damage the rising river has done. The ferry was a quick and easy way to cross and we were soon at the temple.
It is believed that after fighting his way out of Ayutthaya besieged by the Burmese at the time, King Taksin arrived at Wat Arun just as dawn was breaking and thus renamed it, Temple of Dawn. The temple is located on the west bank of the river and is one of Bangkok’s most famous landmarks.
The central spire, or prang, is 266 feet high with three symbolic levels and steep narrow stairs representing the difficulties humans face when trying to attain a higher level of existence. Each level grants sweeping views of the river. The Grand Palace is visible in this photo.
Each prang is covered in broken ceramic tile that we’ve seen at other temples. The story is that Chinese ships carried broken ceramic as weight and then offloaded it on reaching the shores of the river. The pieces were then used to decorate various temples.
Four smaller prang stood at each corner of the central prang with steps leading to a small enclave. There was a wall in front of the complex keeping the river at bay and monks stacked sandbags as extra security.
The Erawan Museum
I read about this quirky place in one of our guidebooks and wanted to pay a visit. The location is in the east so we took the skytrain to the last stop and then a taxi. Unfortunately we forgot our camera….
Lek Viriyaphant was a business tycoon interested in creating a space for his Asian antiquities. However, what was supposed to be a conventional museum for the Thai people took on symbolic and spiritual traits. His Western friend apparently suggested that he create a museum in the shape of an apple (very Western) and this inspired Lek to build an elephant shaped building based on the Hindu belief of Erawan.
Erawan is a three headed elephant that is typically the vehicle of the god Indra but Lek imagined a more cosmic elephant. The copper and green elephant stands 29 metres high and weighs 150 tons. Just to give you an idea of the size, one of the hind legs holds an elevator and the other, a spiral staircase. To enter the pedestal that holds the elephant, we first had to remove our shoes.
Museum is really the wrong word for this place. Inside the first level is a grand staircase covered in ceramic tile with intricate designs and gorgeous creatures coming out of the staircase. A circular stained glass window covers the ceiling and there are a couple of large pillars covered in carvings. At the top of the first set of stairs is an image of Buddha and then two staircases curve out from there leading to the lift and the spiral staircase. That’s it. The lift opens to a small observation area. Another set of stairs takes you to a darkly lit temple with about 8 ancient images of Buddha lining the walls and one front and centre. Bangkok.com’s description is apt: the most psychedelic décor you’ll see outside a dream.
It is strange. The temple is located in the belly of the elephant extending into the head. The ceiling was round and painted with constellations. We sat for awhile taking it in and then left shaking our heads. We wandered around the landscaped property for a bit and left. Even though it was odd, we couldn’t help but smile and were glad that we went.
Siam Niramit
It is known to be a ‘cultural extravaganza’ and a huge spectacle so Ian and I decided to give it a shot. We knew it probably wouldn’t be our cup of tea considering the performance is made specifically for tourists but being drama teachers we are always intrigued by spectacle.
Ian booked the tickets through a travel agency because weirdly, this is cheaper than buying them at the venue or online. We took bike taxis, the skytrain, and the metro to get to the Thai Cultural Centre stop where a shuttle bus gave us a free ride to the theatre. We arrived early because the tourist material promised there would be a lot to do and see before the show.
We were greeted with flower corsages and entered the complex. There are two elephants available to ride or feed (for a fee) and dancers to watch. We headed to the back to the traditional Thai village. Simple Thai huts sit beside streams in among the foliage. Thais are dressed in traditional clothing and I believe they were supposed to be doing traditional tasks but many were chatting amongst themselves or on cell phones. We went very quickly through and then put in time waiting for the show to start.
A sign celebrated the theatre as being in the Guinness World of Records for the tallest stage in the world. The theatre was huge and we had great seats but unfortunately the audience was very tiny. The performance started with a narration in Thai and English and what we thought was going to be a story of Thai history was more like a series of vignettes that idealized ancient Siam. I kept waiting for scenes of battle (Thailand has had many many wars) but there was nary a one. It was song after song with little speaking and all the music was recorded.
The cast was huge (I think over a hundred), the costumes lavish and the spectacle didn’t disappoint. They used scrims, flew in huge pieces of scenery and performers, and had a Chinese boat. One scene used a traditional village setting and a river appeared at the front of the stage; deep enough for one of the performers to jump in to over his head. Small boats drifted by and lotus offerings were set floating on the water. When a thunder and lightning storm struck rain poured down from the high grid above to hit the river below. In another scene, fountains of water shot high into the air. Although not a great show it was certainly grand (and we didn’t fall asleep).
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