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.

      An important building in the temple is the phra ubosot that was constructed in the First Reign. The murals inside were executed in the Third Reign but were damaged and repainted in the Seventh Reign. They depict scenes from Tosachart, Marn Phachon and Tribhumi. Surrounding the phra ubosot there are structures to house the sema boundary markers in all eight directions. These structures are in the form of an elephant howdah, or na nang, and are considered master pieces. The tripitaka tower, which was constructed in the First Reign and renovated in the Third Reign, was formerly in the center of a pond and was made of wood with a balcony surrounding it. The door and window panels are beautifully carved.

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Official Website: www.watsraket.com
Address Location: Pom Prap Sattru Phai district, Bangkok, Thailand

Tag: Wat Saket Rajaworamahavihara / Wat Saket / Saket Temple / Saket Rajaworamahavihara Temple / Wat Sraket / Sraket Temple / Watsaket / Watsraket / Saket Rajaworamahavihan Temple / Wat Saket Rajaworamahavihan