Wat Intharawihan - Royal Temple With Bangkok’s Largest Standing Buddha - Thailand 2023

Wat Intharawihan or Wat Intharavihan วัดอินทรวิหาร is a Third Class Royal temple located in the Phra Nakhon District of Bangkok, Thailand. It is known for its 32 meter (105 ft) high standing Buddha statue known as Luang Pho To or "Phra Si Ariyamettrai" that was erected on the inspiration of the still highly revered abbott Somdej Toh.

The Wat is a royal temple categorized as Class III, which was built at the beginning of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, and was originally called Wat Rai Phrik "Vegetable fields Wat". It was so named as it was surrounded by vegetable gardens. The land where the temple is situated was provided by Rama I to accommodate prisoners of war after he put down a rebellion in Laos. After the rebellion he brought the members of the Laos royal family here and they settled in this area

During the reign of King Vajiravudh it was refurbished by Chao Inthawong and the name was changed to Wat Intharavihan. Chao Inthawong also brought a priest from Vientiane to preside as the abbot of the temple.

The Wat's main architectural depiction is a 32 meter (105 ft) high, 10 meter (33 ft) wide standing statue referred to as Luang Pho To or "Phra Si Ariyamettrai" (Maitreya). Building the Buddha statue was started in 1867 and it took sixty more years to complete it in 1927. The image is made of brick and stucco. Somdej Toh, the then Abbott of the temple was the inspiration to build it. He died at the foot of the image in 1871 when it was being built.

The image is called Luang Phor To. In 1982 during 200th anniversary of the establishment of Bangkok city the image was refurbished and fitted with Italian golden mosaic tile. The statue which is decorated in glass mosaics tiles is gilded with 24 carat gold. The topknot, called ushnisha, of the Buddha statue contains a relic of Gautama Buddha that was given as a gift by the Government of Sri Lanka. The enshrinement of the relic in the ushnisha was done by Prince Vajiralongkorn, the knot was placed in 1978.

The temple has an ordination hall called the Ubosot (prayer hall) also known linguistically as Bot. Its architecture reflects the style followed during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. It was refurbished in 1982. Italian marble is used to decorate the lower part of the hall and the walls are decorated with traditional paintings. The sema boundary stones marking the limits of the Ubosot are mounted over small naga images. The murals on the walls have the theme of the daily life.

The temple is an important temple to the Thais and is busy with people coming to make merit. It’s not as well known to tourists but some still find their way here to enjoy this temple. Admission for tourists is 40 Baht. It’s well worth that to see.

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