“Wat Phra Chetuphon Vimolmangklararm Rajwaramahaviharn”

WatPhoRecline14 — Wat Pho exterior detail

Wat Pho is one of the oldest and most important temples in Thailand. The original temple predates the establishment of Bangkok as the capital and its presence may have impacted Rama I’s decision to base his capital there. The original temple is believed to have been built in the late 17^th century. In the late 18^th century, Rama I rebuilt the temple, and Rama III made significant improvements as well.

WatPhoRecline7 — Worshippers at the Wat Pho complex

WatPhoRecline6 — Worshippers at the Wat Pho complex

WatPhoRecline8 — Another Buddha at Wat Pho

WatPhoRecline2 — Entering Wat Pho temple – the girl in front of us had to use one of the temple cover-ups as she was not dressed appropriately

The most important aspect of the temple is the Buddha itself. The massive, gold reclining Buddha takes up the entire temple and at 150 feet long, is one of the largest, if not the largest, Buddhas in the world. The temple is also filled with detailed paintings of scenes from the life of Buddha.

WatPhoRecline18 — Wat Pho – Buddha’s feet

WatPhoRecline16 — Paintings in the Wat Pho temple

Behind the Buddha is a series of 108 buckets for which you can purchase coins to contribute. Each coin represents a blessing or prayer as you drop it into the bucket. It seemed like most visitors to the temple were participating in adding the special coins to the buckets.