Tuesday, June 22, 2010

9 temples














It's time to show you some of the beauty of the temples. Last Saturday I had the opportunity to see nine Buddhist temples in Bangkok.
My hosts were Moo's two daughters, Miao and Panh (my transliterations)--lovely young women, both devout Buddhists. I gather that the number 9 is a good goal for the number of temples to see in one day for optimum merit. I'm not sure whether they were consciously gaining extra merit by treating a stranger to the same experience, but for me it was wonderful!
We walked a lot, ferried across the river several times, took a tuktuk ride, climbed the steps of the stupa at Wat Alun (the tall white one on the right). Those steps are very steep, by the way, about a 2 up/1 forward rise, even scarier coming down I think. An exercise in trust, and sore thighs at the end of the day.
We began the day at Wat Prat Kiaow, Temple of the Emerald Buddha--I'll give that a separate entry of its own, as it's also part of the Grand Palace, by far the most gorgeous of all the temples visually. Each temple has its own symbol, its own feel--Wat Pa Kang the temple of the bell, Wat Poh the temple of massage (didn't take time for a massage this day, will do that soon). The Reclining Buddha is huge and impressive. On first entry to the inner temple area, you see only the head, then proceed along to see shoulders, belly, thighs, shins, finally the feet--each glimpse a room in itself. The feet are amazing, decorated on the bottoms with elaborate mother-of-pearl images of buildings, flowers--each foot probably 4 feet high by 8 feet wide, a guess. As you look back along the whole length of the Buddha, awe is not an option; it's automatic. Same with the view from the top of the stupa, or the glitter of glass at Wat Prat Kiaow, or the smell of incense at the Chinese temple, or the clanging of the bells at Wat Pa Kang.
We sprinkled sacred water from lotus blossoms, received a blessing and bracelet from a monk, lit candles and incense sticks, poured oil into the receptacles in front of each day's special god-image, dropped satang coins into bowls, bought food for the monks (egg, bacon and a small cup of rice, all uncooked but ready to be presented to a monk for his day's food). We kneeled and bowed, and Miao prayed as I repeated the sounds. Took our shoes off to go into the inner temple areas (almost unbearably hot where the sun had already reached the marble surface!) Everywhere was reverence and ceremony, with different customs at each temple.
In a few of the temples they had separate entrance lines for native Thai people and for farang (foreigners); I'm guessing the farang entry cost more, which actually seems fair as for us it's a tourist attraction and for most Thais it's a religious observance. The two are so inextricably mixed--awe of Buddha and awe of the beauty to all senses.


3 comments:

  1. Wow! Is it really as opulant as it looks? Is it shiney and fresh or a bit run down upon close look? "Nine Temples" could be the title of your book.

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  2. Stunning pictures! BTW Happy Solstice. Any recognition there for the longest day of the year? Just kidding.

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  3. Sue -

    I LOVE reading your beautifully written, fascinating posts, and seeing the photos that make everything even more real. I feel like I am along on your amazing adventure, except I don't have to suffer through the hot, hotter, wetter part!

    Hugs,
    Karen

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