The Old Harbour - 22 Walks in Bangkok - page 34

and Thai styles. At the river entrance are two Chinese pavilions, built from brick and en-
cased in mortar to give the appearance of stone, and next to the small wiharn to the rear
of the compound is a Chinese chedi . On the other side of the wiharn is an elegant bell
tower housing the giant bell, the biggest bronze bell in Thailand, which Prince Damrong
had watched being cast. Inside the wiharn are murals dating from the founding of the
temple. The gable of the ubosot is Chinese in style, the distinction being the lack of finials
and overhanging eaves, and a floral design covers the flat gable frontage. The ubosot also
has murals depicting life from the time of Rama III , but parts of them are sadly deterior-
ated. Beneath the floor is reportedly the basement of Toh Kanlayanamit's house. Wat Kan-
layanamit is a second grade royal temple, and it is the royal wiharn , the hall of worship,
that towers over the compound. The reason for its great size soon becomes clear, for the
wiharn was built to house a huge Buddha image, 15.2 metres (50 ft) high and 11.6 metres
(38 ft) wide, which almost fills the entire structure. Fashioned after a Buddha figure in Ay-
utthaya, the image is named Samporkong, and attracts crowds of Chinese devotees during
the Chinese New Year period.
Leaving Wat Kanlayanamit by the side gate takes us straight to the bank of Bangkok
Yai canal, where one will see the lock gate used to control the water flow, and envy the
gatekeeper who has a cosy little office on top of the structure. Following the pathway will
take us to Arun Amarin Road. Cross over here, following the narrow waterway that runs
briefly alongside Bangkok Yai, and we are in another distinctive community in this most
ethnically diverse of districts, for this is Kudi Khao, one of the oldest Muslim communities
in Bangkok. Three religions—Christian, Buddhist and Muslim—live peaceably together in
an area that can be traversed on foot within half an hour.
The Muslims of Kudi Khao are Sunnis. They are Cham in origin, whose ancestors mi-
grated from Borneo, some going into Vietnam and Cambodia, and others finding their
way to Ayutthaya, where they became traders and farmers, living on rafts on the rivers
and canals of the capital. Early settlers had also made their homes on the Bangkok Yai
canal, and when Thonburi was founded more made their way down the Chao Phraya to
join them. The largest community formed on the north bank, around the Tonson Mosque,
but others settled here on the south bank, where in the time of Rama I they built their
own mosque, officially Bang Luang Mosque, taking its name from the early name for the
canal, but usually referred to as Kudi Khao: the word khao meaning “white”. There are no
roads in this tiny community, only narrow pathways built around the course of the wa-
terway, which forms the shape of a square and which is worryingly unguarded for much
of its length. Kudi Khao is in the centre of this maze of timber houses, in a small clear-