Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
he sema boundary markers around the ubosot are unusual in that they are supported
by small nagas . Inside the ubosot are wall murals depicting scenes of daily life in Siam,
and the area behind the ubosot has statues of Hindu deities and of Chao Mae Kuan Yin,
the goddess of mercy. This, incidentally, is one of the centres in Bangkok for making and
selling amulets, a practice that appears to have started as a way of funding the construc-
tion of the image, as Wat In is a civil, and not a royal, temple.
The building of the enormous Buddha image at Wat In took sixty years to complete.
Our way now takes us across the third moat, the final line of defence around the city,
although when it was dug in the time of Rama IV in 1851, the threat of invasion had al-
most vanished and the canal was primarily for transport and drainage. At the mouth of the
canal, on the far bank, is Wat Thewa Ratchakunchon, a temple with an outstanding sky-
blue fresco in the ubosot , angels floating in the firmament around the golden Buddha im-
age that almost fills the small hall. The temple has some particularly fine residential archi-
tecture in its grounds, and is also home to the Golden Teak Museum, a structure brought
down from the north, and whose glowing golden teak interior forms an exhibition area for
the display of Buddhist artifacts from Sri Lanka and sculptures of renowned monks from
the Rattanakosin period.
Rama IV planned to build temples all along the bank of the outer moat, as had been
done in Ayutthaya. Wat Makut Kasat and Wat Somanas were therefore built as new
temples and are the only two temples in Rattanakosin that have two rings of sema , or
boundary stones. The first ring, called the maha sema , is placed within niches in the
temple walls, while the second ring, the khanthasema , surrounds the ubosot . In temples
that have two rings of sema , the monks can perform religious ceremonies in both the
ubosot and the wiharn . At Wat Makut Kasat, the gables and the door and window frames
are decorated with the royal crown insignia of Rama IV . The murals inside the ubosot de-
pict scenes from stories in the Pali Canon about the Buddha's male and female disciples,
along with illustrations of meditation techniques and commandments, while Khmer in-
cantations are inscribed on the door and window panels. Rama IV dedicated Wat Soman-
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