Temples in Thailand - Thai Temples, Wat Thai Temple

THAI TEMPLES

There are temples everywhere in Thailand, and every community will have at least one. The Temple has always played a significant role as a social, educational and spiritual centre for the people of the community. There are more than 30,000 Buddhist temples in Thailand, and probably more than 300,000 monks.

Amidst the changes taking place in society today, the Temple remains important as a spiritual centre for all Thai people. On Buddhist holy days, temples are crowded with people making merit and paying respect to the Buddha images, and all religious ceremonies such as funeral rites are conducted there.

Much of the Thailand’s artistic and cultural heritage can be seen in the architecture and decoration of the temples, with their murals, wood carvings and Buddha images.

They have always been a magnet for travellers, and the most frequently visited are Wat Phra Kaeo (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), Wat Pho, Wat Arun or the Temple of Dawn, and Wat Benchamabophit or the Marble Temple. These temples provide the most concentrated display of the development of Thai art and architecture through the centuries.

Thai Buddhist temples are either for religious ceremonies, or else they are residential quarters for monks, in which case they are monasteries. temples can also be categorised as royal if they are under royal patronage, and they can further be divided into first, second and third class identified by the prefixes Racha or Vora.

There are 180 to 200 temples under royal patronage but only six are of the highest class. The four in Bangkok are Wat Pho, Wat Mahathat, Wat Suthat, and Wat Arun. The two in the provinces are Wat Phra Pathom Chedi in Nakhon Pathom and Wat Phra Phutthabat in Saraburi.

The thai Temple, or Wat, is actually a complex of buildings and religious monuments within a single compound, often varying in both age and artistic value, designed to serve a number of practical purposes in the surrounding community. One section houses the resident monks, for instance, while elsewhere there are structures for worship, for meetings, for education, for creamations, for enshrining relics and ashes of the deceased.

The focal point of village life, a Wat is erected as an act of merit by the community as a whole or by a private patron and is best appreciated through an understanding of its different functions.

The bot, or ubosot, where new monks are ordained, is the most important building in the Wat compound, though it may not be the largest or most impressive. It is always surrounded by eight boundary stones (bai sema) demarcating the consecrated area, which is outside the authority of any governing body.

The viharn is an assembly hall used by monks and the laity who come to hear sermons. The compound shown here is without a viharn; other compounds may have several. Viharns and bots are similar architecturally, only distinguishable by the presence of the bai sema.

A chedi, or stupa, is a reliquary monument where relics of the Buddha or the ashes of important people are enshrined. The chedi is often the main reason behind the construction of the Wat compound.

Most Wat compounds contain a bell tower. The bell is rung to summon resident monks to prayers in the late afternoon.

The monks' quarters in a Wat consist of individual houses where the resident monks live, the largest unit being reserved for the abbot.

Ho trai, or libraries, are usually built in the middle of a pond or on a raised platform to kkeep the manuscripts away from termites and other domestic pests.

The sala kanprien usually serves as a meeting hall.

Other sala in the compound are used by visitors and pilgrims.

Cremations are held in a tall, tower-like structure with steps leading to the are where the body is consigned to flames.