The Amazing Buddhist Temples In Bangkok, Thailand
The Amazing Buddhist Temples In Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok is home to some amazing Buddhist Temples called Wats.
If you want to see the very best ancient traditional Thai architecture, these beautiful wats will dazzle and amaze you.
Bangkok became the capital of Siam (as Thailand was previously known) in 1782, when General Chao Phraya Chakkri assumed the throne as Rama the first, and moved the court from Ayutthaya.
The town of Bangkok at that time was a small trading center and port town on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, serving the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the previous capital of Thailand, which existed from the year 1350 to 1767.
Buddhist architecture all around Asia could be described as delicate and celestial.
Much like the Cathedrals of Europe, which were meant to give people a sense of awe at the grandeur of God, or the Tudor towers and minarets that pierce and point to the sky, the abode of the Heavens and of the almighty God, the effect of the Thai Temples evokes a dazzling sense of awe and fantasy.
The colors are primary and bright, reminiscent of jewels and precious stones.
Pilars are curved with motifs of peacocks or elephants, and are often painted in gold.
The basic structures of the stupas (called Chedi) came mostly from Sri Lanka or Angkor in Cambodia.
But the Kingdom of Siam elaborated on the designs, and although built of heavy stone, the twinkling complex feels ethereal.
That lightness in temple architecture was first crafted in royal Ayutthaya.
For centuries buildings stretched taller, windows narrowed, stupas got sleeker, columns tilted inwards, and every surface was painted or inlaid with gold and reflective tiles.
No architectural structures in the world avoid ninety-degree angles as much as Thailand’s do.
Thai temples and palaces were built to symbolize sacred mountain ranges, each one taller than the last, which rise shining and gemlike from our world into the heavens.
I will not elaborate on each of the temples we visited in Bangkok.
There is a lot of information about each Wat, with lots of historical details on Wikipedia.
I am only adding images, hoping to inspire a sense of beauty in your hearts.
With love,
Tali
