| Cover
story: 25 July |
| Vol.
25 No.8 |
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About
the
ROYAL BUDDHIST TEMPLES |
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Upon a visit to Thailand, you will notice that
in every community almost everywhere there are many
golden spires and orange-green roofs of Buddhist temples.
The temples, or "wats" in Thai, are of great
interest to visitors because of their religious, artistic
and cultural significance in Thai society. Gaining some
general information on the temples will help make temple
visits more meaningful. Most beautiful temples in Thailand
are royal ones. So, Thaiways has gathered some
data about royal temples to be introduced to you.
The majestic Wat Phra
Kaeo
(the Temple of the Emerald Buddha)
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CLASSIFICATION OF TEMPLES
Since ancient times, Thai kings have supported Buddhism
and also built many temples. That's why this country
has such a great number of them. They are classified
into two categories which are royal temples and common
temples.
Royal temples are built or renovated by a king or built
by a member of royalty or the nobility and dedicated
to the king, or even built by any well-to-do person
who then requested to dedicate the temple to the king
and it was accepted as such. They are divided into first,
second and third class temples in a descending order
of significance. The temples in each class are graded
by a further ranking order which precisely identifies
their position in the hierarchical system.
The Reclining Buddha
of Wat Pho
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The following are the suffixes of the names of the three
grades of the first class royal temples.
1.Ratchavoramahavihan
2.Ratchavoravihan
3.Voramahavihan
The four grades of second class royal temples have the
following suffixes in their names:
1.Ratchavoramahavihan
2.Ratchavoravihan
3.Voramahavihan
4.Voravihan
The famous prang of Wat Arun
(the Temple of Dawn)
as is mostly appeared in
photographs of Thailand.
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The third class royal temples consist of three grades
but with only two suffixes, which are Ratchavoravihan
and Voravihan. The third grade of this class has no
suffix.
Wat Suthat
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This ranking system for royal temples was initiated
in 1913. There are only six temples in the highest grade
of the first class royal temples. Four are in Bangkok:
Wat Phra Chetuphon (popularly known as the Temple of
the Reclining Buddha), Wat Maha That, Wat Suthat and
Wat Arun (also known as the Temple of Dawn). Two are
in other provinces: Wat Phra Pathom Chedi in Nakhon
Pathom province, and Wat Phra Phutthabat in Saraburi
province.
Wat Phra Pathom Chedi
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Two distinguished temples that are not classified into
any group are Wat Phra Kaeo (the Temple of the Emerald
Buddha) and Wat Phra Ram Kao Kanchanaphisek. The world-renowned
Temple of the Emerald Buddha only serves religious functions
and has no residential quarters for monks while Wat
Phra Ram Kao Kanchanaphisek is dedicated to the reigning
King Rama IX.
At present (2008), there are a total of 35,271 temples
in whole Thailand. Among these, 281 are royal temples.
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Wat Phra Phutthabat
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Mostly, the royal temples of the first grade were built
in the early Rattanakosin period from King Rama I to
Rama V (1782-1910). This is because the successive kings
followed the objective of King Rama I who desired to
create Bangkok to be as glorious with many majestic
temples as the fallen Ayutthaya (1350-1767 A.D.). The
royal temples of each reign are listed below.
• Wat Phra Chetuphon - King Rama
I
• Wat Arun - King Rama II
• Wat Ratcha-orot - King Rama
III
• Wat Ratchapradit - King Rama
IV
• Wat Benchamabophit - King Rama
V
• Wat Bowonniwet - King Rama
VI
• Wat Ratchabophit -King Rama
VII
• Wat Suthat - King Rama VIII
Wat Benchamabophit
(the Marble Temple)
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In former times, a king erected a temple to propagate
Buddhism or to commemorate some important event in his
life, such as the commemoration of his birthplace or
his victory.  The
practice of designating a temple to each king was initiated
in the reign of King Rama IV who placed some of the
ashes of Kings Rama I, II and III under the bases of
the principal Buddha images of Wat Phra Chetuphon, Wat
Arun and Wat Ratcha-orot respectively. This became a
royal tradition by which when a king passed away, part
of his ashes would be enshrined at a royal temple which
had been erected by or related to him and thus entitled
to be his temple.
However, officially, this tradition was abolished in
the reign of King Rama VI who reckoned that Bangkok
had enough royal temples and that one purpose of establishing
a temple was to be an educational centre. Therefore,
the king founded the Royal Page School* instead of building
a temple and regarded it as the temple of his reign.
However, after he passed away, the Thais considered
Wat Bowonniwet as such instead.
*The Royal Page School is now named Vajiravudh College,
which is a boarding school for boys.
Wat Bowonniwet |
The setting of royal temples for King Rama VI, VII and
VIII was for the arrangement of a merit-making ceremony
for them during the Songkran Festival.
Regarding the royal temple of King Rama V, there is
a common misunderstanding about it. To elaborate, King
Rama V, right after his accession to the throne, founded
Wat Ratchabophit as the royal temple of his reign. Later,
around the end of his reign, he restored Wat Benchamabophit
and had an order to place his ashes here. As a result,
people hold that Wat Benchamabophit is the temple of
his reign.
Wat
Ratcha Pradit |
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King Rama VII followed the initiated concept of King
Rama VI by not building a temple. Instead, he undertook
the restoration of Wat Ratchabophit. So, after he passed
away, some of his ashes were enshrined under the base
of the principal Buddha image of Wat Ratchabophit and
people regard it as the temple of his reign.
The royal temples are a proof of the great faith that
the Thai kings had towards Buddhism which is an excellent
model for the public to follow.
To visit the temples mentioned here, you are recommended
to contact Bangkok Tourism Division on tel:
0 2225 7612 to 4 or contact a travel agency
to arrange a trip for you. Please dress properly and
take your shoes off before entering the worshipping
halls.
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