Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram
Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram (วัดพระเชตุพนวิมลมังคลารามราชวรมหาวิหาร), also called Wat Pho (วัดโพธิ์), is a royal temple at 2 Sanam Chai Road, Grand Palace Subdistrict, Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok 10200. It lies along Sanam Chai Road and Maharaj Road, next to the Grand Palace.
In 1789 Rama I ordered the restoration of Wat Photharam, behind the Grand Palace. The work took 7 years, 5 months, and 28 days, the temple was inaugurated in 1801, and it was renamed Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalavas. It is the temple of Rama I, and in the reign of Rama IV the ashes of Rama I were placed in the pedestal of the principal Buddha image, Phra Buddha Theva Patimakorn, in the ubosot.
The ubosot was built in the reign of Rama I in late Ayutthaya style and enlarged to its present size in the reign of Rama III. The door and window pediments are carved hardwood with gilded, glass-inlaid crown-shaped tops. The outer door leaves are mother-of-pearl scenes from the Ramakien, and the inner leaves are lacquer-and-gold paintings of monastic rank fans.
Foreign visitors pay 300 baht. Thai nationals enter free with a national ID card, and children under 120 cm (4 feet) enter free. The contact page lists working time as 08:30 to 19:30. A separate visit-plan page lists operating hours as 08:00 to 19:30, so the two pages do not agree on the opening time.
Visitors are asked to dress politely. Shorts are not allowed, though trousers are permitted, and the contact page asks women not to wear shorts above the knee. Shoes come off before religious buildings. Do not step on Buddha images, and women do not enter areas set aside for monks or make physical contact with monks.
The telephone is 083-057-7100, and the email is watpho.th@gmail.com. The site links a separate Wat Po Thai Traditional Medical School massage service at watpomassage.com, with its own hours of 08:00 to 19:30.
Photo: Wat Pho, Bangkok, Tailandia, 2013-08-22, DD 07.jpg by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0 (2013).