Wat Somanasvihara Rajaworavihara (Wat Som)

Wat Somanasvihara Rajaworavihara
(Wat Som)

     Wat Somanasvihara Rajaworavihara (Wat Som) is located on Phadung Krungkasem Road and canal on the Nang Loeng market side. King Rama IV ordered the construction of the temple in 1853 to honor and make merit for Princess Somanas Wattanawadee Phra Borom Rajathevee. The temple has thick and high walls. There are two lines of sema, or boundary stones, as there are at Wat Makutkasattriyaram.

     The gables of the phra ubosot are a blending of the Thai and the Chinese architectural styles. Inside there are murals that were painted by artists in the reign of King Rama IV showing scenes from the scriptures, the lives of the Buddha, and senior monks looking at a corpse. On the door and window panels there are pictures of the Seven Gems and other scenes and in the monks' residences there are paintings on glass in the Chinese style. All these are of considerable interest.

Wat Suwannaram Rajaworawihan (Wat Suwan)

Wat Suwannaram Rajaworawihan
(Wat Suwan)

    
     Wat Suwannaram (Wat Suwan) is located on the western bank of Bangkok Noi Canal. It is approached from Charan Sanitwong Road, opposite Bang Khun Non. The temple dates from the Ayutthaya Period and was called originally Wat Thong. King Rama I ordered the temple to be completely renovated and renamed it Wat Suwannaram.

     Somdej Krom Phra Rajawang Boworn Mahasurasinghanart ordered the construction of a crematorium for royalty and high officials. Cremations of such personages traditionally took place outside the outer walls of the city. The crematorium continued in use until the reign of King Rama IV. During renovations of Wat Suwannaram in the Third Reign, the King had the royal artists of the day compete with each other in painting the murals in the phra ubosot. These artists included Luang Vichit Chesada (Thongyoo), who painted the Nemeraja Chadok, and Luang Seni Borirak (Khong Pae), who painted the Mahosot Chadok.

Wat Saket Rajaworamahavihara (Wat Saket)

Wat Saket Rajaworamahavihara
(Wat Saket)

     Wat Saket Rajaworamahavihara (Wat Saket) is located along the Mahanak and Rob Krung Canals, near the Phanfa Leelas Bridge. It was an ancient temple dating from the Ayutthaya Period and was called originally Wat Sakae. King Rama I the Great ordered the renovation of the temple and the digging of a canal around it. He renamed it Wat Saket, which means "to wash the hair", in commemoration of the occasion when he performed the Phra Krayasanan Ceremony at the temple on his return from Cambodia to quell great confusion in Thonburi and his subsequent ascension of the throne in 1782.

     King Rama III ordered the temple to be renovated and had some new buildings constructed, the most important being the Phra Borom Banphot, or Golden Mount, that was to be a phra prang on a twelve-sided base. The construction was not completed in his reign, and King Rama IV decided to construct instead an artificial mountain with a chedi on the summit. Construction was completed in the reign of King Rama V. The chedi on the summit of the Golden Mount has housed relics of the Buddha ever since.

Wat Rajanaddaram Woravihara (Wat Rajanadda)

Wat Rajanaddaram Woravihara
(Wat Rajanadda)

       Wat Rajanaddaram Woravihara (Wat Rajanadda) is a temple of the early Rattanakosin Period. The temple is situated near the Mahakarn Fort, next to the Maha Chesadabodin Pavilion, which is used to welcome guests of state, and near the Phan Fa Leelas Bridge. King Rama III built the temple on about 25 rai of orchard land in honor of his niece, Princess Somanas Wattanawadee (later Queen of King Rama IV). Both attended the foundation stone laying ceremony in 1846.

Wat Rakhangkhositaram Woramahavihara (Wat Rakhang)

Wat Rakhangkhositaram Woramahavihara
(Wat Rakhang)

     Wat Rakhangkhositaram Woramahavihara (Wat Rakhang) is situated on the Thonburi side, opposite Tha Chang Wang Luang Pier. Wat Rakhangkhositaram was originally called Wat Bang Wa Yai and was an ancient temple built during the Ayutthaya Period. King Taksin raised its status to that of a royal temple and had it used as the site of a Buddhist council to recompile the tripitaka. In the First Reign, an ancient bell was discovered on the temple grounds and since that time the temple has been known as Wat Rakhang, or the Temple of the Bell. King Rama I had the bell, which had good tone, removed to Wat Phrasrirattana Sassadaram.

Wat Yannawa

Wat Yannawa

      Wat Yannawa is located on the bank of the Chao Phraya River, on Charoen Krung Road, Yannawa District. It was an ancient temple dating from the Ayutthaya Period. Originally named Wat Khok Khwai. In the Thonburi Period it was raised to the status of a royal temple and was renamed as Wat Khok Krabeu. Later, King Rama I ordered the construction of a new phra ubosot.

Wat Prayurawongsawas Woravihara (Wat Prayoon)

Wat Prayurawongsawas Woravihara
(Wat Prayoon)

      Wat Prayurawongsawas Woravihara (Wat Prayoon) is situated near the approach to the Phra Phuttha Yodfa Bridge, on the Thonburi side of the river. Somdej Chao Phraya Barom Maha Prayurawong (Dis Bunnag), or Somdej Chao Phraya Ong-Yai, ordered its construction in 1828. People generally call it Wat Rua Lek because Somdej Chao Phraya Ong-Yai had cast iron fences imported from England and presented them to King Rama III for using in the Grand Palace. The fences, however, were not to the King's satisfaction so Phraya Prayurawong asked that they be used in a temple instead, and in their place, presented the King with a quantity of sugar equal to the iron in weight.