The Wat Pho or “Temple of the Reclining Buddha” is one of Bangkok’s most attractive temples. It is a much visited temple complex due to its location immediately South of the Grand Palace and the huge Reclining Buddha image it houses.
The temple that is officially named Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimonmangkhalaram is one of the six temples in Thailand that are of the highest grade of the first class Royal temples.
Oldest and largest temple in Bangkok
The Wat Pho is the oldest and largest temple complex in Bangkok, it houses more than 1,000 Buddha images which is more than any other Wat in Thailand. Most of the images were brought over from abandoned temples in places as Ayutthaya and Sukhothai by order of King Rama I.
After the foundation of Bangkok in the Ko Rattanakosin area in 1782 and the construction of the Grand Palace, King Rama I ordered the construction of the Wat Pho. The temple was built on the site of an older, Ayutthaya era temple named Wat Photharam right next to the Grand Palace.
The 46 meters long Reclining Buddha image
Name
Wat Pho, the temple of the Reclining Buddha
Date
1781
Location
Thanon Chetuphon, Rattanakosin area
Bangkok
Bangkok