Bangkok Guide
Ratanakosin
Wat Pho
Opening time: Daily 8am–6pm
Price: B50
Address: Entrances on Soi Chetuphon and Thanon Thai Wang; near Tha Thien express-boat pier
Website: www.watpho.com
A lively and shambolic complex of temple buildings and classrooms, Wat Pho is the oldest temple in Bangkok and older than the city itself, having been founded in the seventeenth century. It's had several overhauls since, most notably in 1832, when Rama III built the chapel of the Reclining Buddha, and turned the temple into a public centre of learning by decorating the walls and pillars with inscriptions and diagrams on subjects such as history, literature, animal husbandry and astrology. Dubbed Thailand's first university, the temple is still an important centre for traditional medicine, notably Thai massage, which is used against all kinds of illnesses, from backaches to viruses. Excellent massages are available here, and you can also enrol on a thirty-hour massage training course in English.
The temple complex contains dozens of engaging statues, including some fine stone giants, many of them comic Westerners in wide-brimmed hats, brought back as ships' ballast from China, and a miniature mountain covered in statues of naked men in tall hats, meant to illustrate various positions of healing massage.
Wat Pho's most famous resident is the Reclining Buddha, a 45-metre-long gilded statue of plaster-covered brick which depicts the Buddha entering Nirvana, a common motif in Buddhist iconography. The chapel is only slightly bigger than the statue – you can't get far enough away to take in anything but a surreal close-up view of the beaming five-metre smile. As for the feet, the vast black soles are beautifully inlaid with delicate mother-of-pearl showing the 108 lakshanas, or auspicious signs, which distinguish the true Buddha. Along one side of the statue are 108 bowls which will bring you good luck and a long life if you put a coin in each.