Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
bodies. Anyone can do this, and it is very much an act of compassion. Donators receive
two slips of paper, one to attach to an empty coffin, the other to burn at an altar. Donations
are usually 500 baht. Wat Hua Lampong itself is an imposing structure, occupying a large
area on the corner of Siphraya Road, and unusual in that the
ubosot
and
wiharn
are both
raised on a one-storey high platform. A lifesize figure of Rama
V
is seated in a shrine at the
platform. It is a royal temple, third class, and in 1996 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary
of the ascension to the throne of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Wat Hua Lampong under-
went extensive renovations. The Golden Jubilee seal, depicting two elephants flanking a
multi-tiered umbrella, is featured extensively in the remodelling.
The design of Hua Lampong terminus combines classical and industrial elements.
he word
lampong
means “loudspeaker” but is also used for a type of flower whose
bloom forms a loudspeaker shape, while
hua
means “head” or “bulb”. This area must have
been used for growing these flowers in the past, and in addition to the temple taking its
name from the locality, as did the canal that was later buried under Rama
IV
Road, on the
other side of the street and a few minutes walk to the northwest stands the mainline rail-
way terminus that has also taken the name. And whereas Wat Hua Lampong stands on
the border of Bangrak district, Hua Lampong Railway Station stands in Pathum Wan, the
name meaning “lotus forest”. Clearly, the muddy, swampy land here had once been very
fertile indeed.
