Bangkok & Around - Thailand - page 127

Thonburi

Directly across the river from Banglamphu is Thonburi, which served a brief tenure as the
Thai capital after the fall of Ayuthaya. Today the area along both sides of the river is eas-
ily accessed from Bangkok's cross-river ferries, and there are museums and temples in
Thonburi that are historical complements to those in Ko Ratanakosin.
It's calm enough on the right bank of the Mae Nam Chao Phraya to seem like another
province. The attractions here are relatively few, but fàng ton (the colloquial name for the
district) is a great area for aimless wandering among leafy streets.

Wat Arun
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP
( www.watarun.net ; off Th Arun Amarin; admission 50B; 8am-6pm; cross-river ferry from Tha Tien) Strik-
ing Wat Arun commands a martial pose as the third point in the holy trinity (along with
Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Pho) of Bangkok's early history. After the fall of Ayuthaya, King
Taksin ceremoniously clinched control here on the site of a local shrine (formerly known
as Wat Jaeng) and established a royal palace and a temple to house the Emerald Buddha.
The temple was renamed after the Indian god of dawn (Aruna) and in honour of the literal
and symbolic founding of a new Ayuthaya.
It wasn't until the capital and the Emerald Buddha were moved to Bangkok that Wat
Arun received its most prominent characteristic: the 82m-high prang (Khmer-style tower).
The tower's construction was started during the first half of the 19th century by Rama II
(King Phraphutthaloetla Naphalai; r 1809-24) and was later completed by Rama III. Not
apparent from a distance are the ornate floral mosaics made from broken, multihued
Chinese porcelain, a common temple ornamentation in the early Ratanakosin period,
when Chinese ships calling at the port of Bangkok discarded tonnes of old porcelain as
ballast. At press time, it had been announced that the prang would be closed for as long as
three years due to renovation. Visitors can enter the compound, but cannot, as in previous
years, climb the tower.
Also worth an inspection is the interior of the bòht . The main Buddha image is said to
have been designed by Rama II himself. The murals date from the reign of Rama V; partic-
ularly impressive is one that depicts Prince Siddhartha encountering examples of birth, old
age, sickness and death outside his palace walls, an experience that led him to abandon the
worldly life. The ashes of Rama II are interred in the base of the presiding Buddha image.

BUDDHIST TEMPLE