Wat Pho, Thailand

Wat Pho (Wat Phra Chetuphon) is an important Buddhist temple in Bangkok which is located next to Grand Palace. It is also known as the temple of the reclining Buddha. This temple is also known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage.

This is my second visit to the Wat Pho and it was as lovely and interesting as ever. The entrance ticket is 50 Baht. Near the entrance is the huge reclining Buddha statue. The statue is 46m long and 15m high.The feet of Buddha is also large at 3 meters of height and 4.5 meters of length.

 Next to the Buddha statue there are 108 bronze bowls indicating the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha.People drop coins in these bowls as it is believed to bring good fortune.

Outside the temple, the grounds contain 91 chedis (stupas in Sanskrit), four viharas (halls), and a bot (central shrine). 71 chedis of smaller size contains the ashes of the royal family, and 21 large ones contain the ashes of Buddha. A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the ashes of deceased, used by Buddhists as a place of meditation. After the parinirvana of the Buddha, his remains were cremated and the ashes divided and buried under eight stupas. The emperor Asoka had the original stupas opened and the remains distributed among the several thousand stupas he had built. (Source: Wikipedia)

Phra Uposatha (the main chapel or Bot or the Assembly Hall - a hall used for performing the monastic ritual). 

The grounds have around 1000 Buddha statues mostly moved from the ruins of Ayuthaya and Sukhothai.

Visit Date: 22.10.2012
More photos can be seen here (2010 visit)  http://sudarsanjayasingh.blogspot.in/search/label/Bangkok