January 20th

Golden Buddha Temple 

Boom was our tour guide for the day. Our first stop of the day was to see the Golden Buddha Temple in Bangkok. It is located in the Wat Traimit Temple. This temple houses the world’s biggest Golden Buddha. It is more than 700 years old and was built in Sukhothai’s era. It weighs over 5 tons, comprised of solid 18 carat gold, and measures around 12ft in width and is over 15ft tall. The temple was rebuilt in 1955, which is how they discovered the Buddha is completely covered in gold.  Before this they thought it was just a plaster Buddha but it was dropped in the moving process and that is when they discovered the golden surface under the plaster. 

The Golden Buddha revealed from its plaster

Grand Palace with Emerald (Jade) Buddha 

The next stop on our city tour was the Grand Palace of Bangkok. The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782. The king, his court, and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. The palace grounds are now used for ceremonial purposes which would include: the coronation of a new king, and state receptions. The Grand Palace is made up of numerous buildings, halls, pavilions set around open lawns, gardens and courtyards. It has over 100 buildings with 200 years royal history and architectural experimentation linked to it. The architectural style is named as Rattanakosin style (old Bangkok-style). The main temple of the Emerald Buddha is decorated and similar to the temple in the ancient capital of Ayutthaya.

There are a plethora of monuments in the temple complex. These are: Pagodas, The Library, the eight towers, and elephant statues to just name a few. The three Pagodas on the temple grounds to its immediate north are meant to represent the changing centres of the  Buddhist influence. The Library which sits in the middle of the Grand Palace complex, houses an elegantly carved Ayutthaya-style mother-of-pearl doors, bookcases with the Tripitaka (sacred Buddhist manuscripts), human-and dragon-headed nagas (snakes), and images of Chakri kings(the family that is still on the throne today). The eight towers located on the eastern side of the temple premises and they were erected during the reign of Rama I to represent eight elements of Buddhism. Elephant statues are everywhere around the palace because the elephant symbolizes power and independence, and it’s also common to rub the head of an elephant statue since it is believed to bring good luck. 

The Grand Palace is also home to the famous Emerald Buddha. The Emerald Buddha temple is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist Temple in Thailand. The Emerald Buddha, is a dark green statue, is in a standing form, 26 inches tall, carved from a single jade stone. (“emerald” in Thai means deep green colour and not the specific stone). The Buddha has his very own wardrobe according to the various seasons. The King had 3 outfits commissioned for the Buddha for the spring, the rainy season, and winter. The King will also dress the Buddha himself to prepare the Buddha for the new season. 

Grand Palace Library and Throngs of Tourists

Boat Ride 

After the crowds of the Grand Palace our group embarked on a river tour. The Chao Phraya River cuts through the city. Aboard our tiny boat we learned the river was once home to many crocodiles but the Siamese Crocodile is now endangered. Boom offered to find us a few crocodiles if we wanted to go for a swim (very funny Boom).  Few remain in the wild, let alone inhabit the congested Bangkok Canals. Despite Mark’s disappointment at not seeing any crocodiles, our group spotted a few other river animals including a giant freshwater lizard. Our guide thought it was a good luck omen for us! The reptile is known as the monitor lizard, a scavenger that feasts on carrion. Despite Boom’s claim, many people believe the creature is a sign of bad luck since it feasts on scraps. (Yikes!) 

Passing many temples we paused at one of the Buddhist temples. Here one could buy loaves of bread to feed the huge population of catfish in the river. Quickly they swarmed the boat and devoured everything in sight. No students were lost to the catfish, perhaps the monitor lizard wasn’t bad luck after all. Further along we came to traditional thai houses made out of teak wood. This material is naturally resistant to pests and termites, thus making it ideal for building material.

Cam falling into the catfish frenzy

Our boat tour ended at the Dawn Temple (Wat Arun), which was the original home of the Emerald Buddha until the eighteenth century. The tower at the center reaches over two hundred feet high! 

Sam’s super excited about the Dawn Temple! (and lunch…)

Arnu Riverside (Lunch) + Reclining Buddha

The fifth floor of our lunch spot had a fantastic view of the Dawn Temple. Students kept popping upstairs as we waited for our cashew chicken, basil beef, curry, and (of course) pad thai. Everything was delicious. Slightly revived from lunch we continued on our trek to see Bangkok’s most iconic buddha, the Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho. This buddha is approximately 50 feet tall and 150 feet in length. His posture and open eyes indicate that he has not reached Nirvana in this representation. Other representations indicate his spiritual achievement by depicting closed eyes. 

Our delicious Pad Thai at lunch!

Exhausted from the heat of the day, we decided to view the Parliament building and Marble temple from our bus. After the construction of the parliament building the excess Carrara (Italian) marble was fashioned into the Buddhist temple, hence the name the “Marble temple.” The cool air conditioning of the hotel was a relief after the 95 degree heat. Everyone is relaxing and preparing for a visit to the Thammasat Business School tomorrow! 

Glimpse of the Reclining Buddha – his open eyes are searching for Enlightenment

Mallory Krum & Alyssa Caffrey