Money Town - 22 Walks in Bangkok - page 42

statues in military uniforms, although they have badly deteriorated. The building is now
living quarters for the monks.
The temple, which was upgraded to second tier royal status in the reign of Rama VI , has
been a significant one for the Chakri dynasty. Rama II , III , IV and V all made additions and
renovations, and Rama VI elevated it to the royal second tier. Most of the sons of Rama II ,
including the future kings Rama III and IV and Second King Pinklao, had their elementary
study here. Wat Molilokkayaram has evolved over the years to become a study centre for
the Pali language and in 1991 was appointed as the monastic educational institute provid-
ing Dharma education. Temples from elsewhere in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand
send students here, where there are twenty teachers and up to two hundred monks and
novices studying each year.
Wat Arun, of course, needs little introduction. It is one of Thailand's best-known sym-
bols, and its Khmer-style prang decorates the logo of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
To most visitors it is just a dramatic spire, and those who puff their way to the upper ter-
race are certainly rewarded with a gorgeous view of the river and the city beyond, but the
temple is a complex place with deep symbolic meanings and a beauty that continues to
reveal itself, no matter how often one visits. No one knows when Wat Arun was founded,
but it dates back to the Ayutthaya era, when it was known as Wat Makok, denoting that
this area was used for growing the type of plum that the Thais call makok , and lending
weight to the theory that Bangkok, or Bang Kok, or Bang Makok, gained its name from the
surrounding plum orchards. The temple appears to have had little significance until Gen-
eral Taksin, on his way back to Ayutthaya with his fleet intent on driving out the Burmese,
arrived here as dawn was breaking. When he became king and established Thonburi as the
capital, he had the temple incorporated within his royal compound, renovated it, and gave
the name Wat Chaeng, which means “Temple of the Dawn”. In 1779 the Emerald Buddha
was brought back from Vientiane by General Chakri and enshrined here for five years un-
til being transferred by Rama I across the river to the purpose-built Wat Phra Kaeo. The
mystique and holiness of the Emerald Buddha was conferred upon Wat Chaeng, which has
continued throughout the Chakri dynasty. Wat Chaeng was the crown temple of Rama II ,
who renamed it Wat Arun, after the Hindu god of the dawn, and whose ashes are buried
under a Buddha statue in the ordination hall, the face of the image believed to have been
moulded in the king's likeness.
The temple appears to have had a very modest-sized prang during its early days,
thought to be less than two metres high, and construction of its present structure began
only in the time of Rama II , who passed away when it was still in the foundation stage.