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Wat Pho

June 2016

Our guesthouse in Bangkok was across the street from the city’s oldest Buddhist monastery, Wat Pho, founded in the 1600s. It’s famous for being a center of learning (especially about traditional medicine and massage), for the elaborately tiled chedis (memorial pagodas) built by early Thai kings, and for its enormous reclining Buddha.

Wat Pho's gates are guarded by giant Chinese statues. Thai traders brought them back from China as ballast in their ships and then gave them to the wat.

This statue, presented by King Rama I in the late 1700s, shows the Buddha preaching his first sermon to his first followers (five ascetics, all of whom ultimately gained enlightenment)

A collection of Buddha statues from northern Thailand donated to Wat Pho (they are made of bronze that has been laquered and gilded)

The main Buddha statue in Wat Pho's ordination hall; it was donated by King Rama I in the late 1700s

Novice monks cool down in front of a fan with a security guard. Note the cell phones, which are one of the few pieces of personal property that monks are allowed to have.

Chedis (memorials containing the remains of former monks) decorated with pieces of ceramic

Wat Pho has long been a center of traditional medicine. Illustrations on the walls show pressure points for healing massage.

Another old illustration of pressure points for healing massage

Statues around the wat demonstrate various yoga poses

The wat's four-gabled library was built to hold scared texts

One of the huge chedis built by Thai kings in the 1800s

Wat Pho is famous for its enormous reclining Buddha, 50 feet high and 150 feet long

An altar where worshippers can obtain merit by applying pieces of gold leaf to some Buddha images (so as to spare the reclining Buddha and other famous statues)

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