Jan 6, 2015
This temple was THE ONE temple that I HAD to see in Thailand. For obvious reasons, its beyond breathtakingly beautiful and strange at the same time. Beautiful because… just LOOK at it! How can anyone say that it’s not pretty. The temple was built and is still being built by Ajarn Chalermchai Kositpipat. He wanted to build the most beautiful temple in the world and to show the glory of modern Thai Buddhist arts. He and 60 followers have devoted to making this temple their life work. It's been more than 15 years since he first started building this temple. He thinks that the temple will be finished in 60 to 90 years after his death. He also doesn't accept monetary donations from companies, government, politicians.. because he doesn't want them to have any influence in the making of the temple. Everything is done by donations from people who visit the temple. There is no admission fee to enter.
The details, the symbolism, the strange things that you see before you even get to the bridge to get into the temple. I mean, there’s a predator, whiskey on the top of a demon(?) head, a tree with heads, and then you have the ancient Thai sculptures. These all represents the demons that people inhibit.
There is only one way into the temple and that’s by crossing the bridge. Below the bridge are hands reaching up. Those are the hands of the people in hell.
There is only one way into the temple and that’s by crossing the bridge. Below the bridge are hands reaching up. Those are the hands of the people in hell.
So before you get to heaven or enlightenment, you have to go cross through hell or get past your distractions/demons. Once you cross the bridge you have to continue walking up the steps as if you were walking up to heaven.
You can’t take photos inside the temple but I bought a book at the souvenir shop and took photos from that so you can see the strange things on the walls. When you enter the temple you immediately see the giant Buddha painting, the white Buddha sculpture and a monk all one in front of the other. The monk is supposed to look like a real person and I’m sure some people believe that it is real but its not. There’s a rope that keeps people from getting too close. In front of you are the nice images of Buddha and everything’s all peaceful.
The moment you turn around you realize you’re looking at hell/your distractions aka Mara the demon. So Buddha and Mara are eternally staring at each other. It represents the final conflict of Buddha's own demon before he obtained enlightenment and freedom from immoral thoughts. The closer you look at the demon, you can see people like Michael Jackson, angry birds, Keanu Reeves, kung fu pana, transformers… and according to our tour guide, those characters are there to represent that Buddha doesn’t discriminate against anyone real or not real. That anyone is capable of achieving enlightenment. He painted superman and ultraman to let people know that there really are no heroes in our world. That no hero from the movie screens will arrive to help. People lack moral standards, that's why he portrayed evil people as the demon with the mouth opened as the entrance of the temple. When people walk out, they will feel that they are leaving the demon behind . The Thai designs flowing from the eyes, nose and mouth of the demon towards the back wall of the temple change into an angelic carriage that takes people, who rid themselves from evil deeds, to meet the Lord Buddha.
The last thing to see was the world’s most beautiful bathroom. The bathroom looks like an ancient golden Thai house. Super pretty. The toilets were all on the first floor so I don’t know what’s on the other floor. Showers? The only thing about this bathroom was that they were all squatter toilets. You have to take off your shoes and wear the slippers provided to use the toilet.
You get to the temple and realize that it’s really small. He built the temple in white color instead of old because he believes that people lust for gold. The use of small mirrors symbolizes wisdom of the Lord Buddha that shines throughout the universe.
You can’t take photos inside the temple but I bought a book at the souvenir shop and took photos from that so you can see the strange things on the walls. When you enter the temple you immediately see the giant Buddha painting, the white Buddha sculpture and a monk all one in front of the other. The monk is supposed to look like a real person and I’m sure some people believe that it is real but its not. There’s a rope that keeps people from getting too close. In front of you are the nice images of Buddha and everything’s all peaceful.
A closer look at the eyes and you’ll see George Bush in one and Bin Laden in the other. I don’t know anyone that could’ve seen that since the eyes were really far up. In the book it says that the artist put Bush and Laden there to caution both so that they can look toward a peaceful and happy world.
There was an artist working on a part of the mural in the temple. I wanted to watch him for a bit but there really was no place to sit. So we walked out the way you’re supposed to and came upon these dangling contraptions. There were so MANY of them. It was really pretty and attention grabbing. There were also these Christmas tree looking things and most of them were filled with the dangling things but there was 1 or 2 that wasn’t as filled. I bought a dangling thing and instead of putting it on the tree thing, I took it with me as a souvenir.
There was an artist working on a part of the mural in the temple. I wanted to watch him for a bit but there really was no place to sit. So we walked out the way you’re supposed to and came upon these dangling contraptions. There were so MANY of them. It was really pretty and attention grabbing. There were also these Christmas tree looking things and most of them were filled with the dangling things but there was 1 or 2 that wasn’t as filled. I bought a dangling thing and instead of putting it on the tree thing, I took it with me as a souvenir.
The last thing to see was the world’s most beautiful bathroom. The bathroom looks like an ancient golden Thai house. Super pretty. The toilets were all on the first floor so I don’t know what’s on the other floor. Showers? The only thing about this bathroom was that they were all squatter toilets. You have to take off your shoes and wear the slippers provided to use the toilet.
