Wat Pho or Wat Phra Chetuphon is Sanam Chai Road near The Royal Palace in Bangkok Thailand. The old temple of King Rama 1. open daily from 08.00 am. – 6.00 pm.
Wat Pho or Wat Phra Chetuphon as it is generally known to the Thais, is mainly famous for the huge Reclining Buddha statue it houses. At 20 acres large, it is the largest Wat in Bangkok, and is technically the oldest too, as it was built around 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand’s capital. However, today the Wat today bears virtually no resemblance to that originally constructed, as it was almost entirely rebuilt by Rama I when the capital was moved to Bangkok. It holds the dual honors of having both Thailand’s largest reclining Buddha image and the most number of Buddha images in Thailand.
The highly impressive gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the feet also show the 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha.
The large grounds of Wat Pho contain more than 1000 Buddha images in total, most from the ruins of the former capitals Ayuthaya and Sukhothai. The grounds are split in two by Chetuphon road. The northern section is generally the only one most people go to, and it includes a large bot (temple hall), enclosed by 394 bronze Buddha images. Outside the bot, there are 152 marble slabs depicting the second half of the epicRamakian story. Also near here are four chedis, constructed to honor the first three Chakri kings (two for King Rama III). There are also a massive 91 others Chedis of varying sizes arounds the grounds, along with chapels, rock gardens, an array of different types of statues, inscriptions, belltowers and resident fortune tellers. The library is nearby too, decorated impressively with figures and pagodas made of porcelain, in much the same way as Wat Arun across the river. The much less visited southern section has less of interest, but makes a good place to find a monk to chat to for a while. Most would welcome the chance to practice their English on visitors.
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