Wat Intharawihan

Wat Intharawihan (วัดอินทรวิหาร), also written Wat Indharaviharn, is on Wisut Kasat Road in Bang Khun Phrom, Phra Nakhon. TAT Japan spells the subdistrict Bangkunprom and does not print a house number or a postcode. The landmark is the standing Buddha known as Luang Pho To. TAT Japan says the temple is said to have been built in 1752, was first called Wat Rai Phrik, and took its present name after King Taksin brought Prince Inthavong from Laos to live nearby and the prince repaired the temple.

The height is not agreed. TAT Japan says the image is 40 metres, is said to be the world’s tallest standing Buddha, and took 60 years to finish. The temple’s own page on Luang Pho To says something else. It names the image Phra Phuttha Si Ariya Metteyya, a standing Buddha holding an alms bowl, 32 metres high. It says Somdet Phra Phutthachan (To Phrommarangsi) began it in 1867, in the reign of King Rama IV, and died before it was finished. Work was completed in 1924, in the reign of King Rama VII, and the first celebration ran 4–6 March 1928. A relic given by the government of Sri Lanka is kept in the ushnisha. Both accounts are left here because they don’t match.

TAT Japan says the grounds are open from 06:00 to 20:00 and the hall until 18:00, and that admission is free. The telephone is printed as 02-628-5550-2. The page’s link is the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/WatIndharaviharn/. It does not print an email or a separate website. TAT Japan also retells a local story that bombs fell directly in front of the image several times in the Pacific War and failed to explode.

Photos: (2022) Wat Intharawiharn, Bangkok (1).jpg by กสิณธร ราชโอรส, CC BY-SA 4.0 (2021), the standing Buddha. Wat Intharawihan (1).jpg by Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0 (2015), Luang Pho To at night. Wat Intharawihan – Statue.jpg by Jason7825, CC BY-SA 3.0 (2007), a gilded lion on the temple.