Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
nothing to mark the temple's former notoriety. The original building no longer stands,
having been demolished by Rama I , who then had the present structure erected. Off to the
side of the temple a royal crematorium was built (it was Siam's first funeral facility built
of concrete) and used until the reign of Rama V , when it was demolished. Bangkok Noi
District Office occupies the site today.
Enter the temple ubosot and there is the most exquisitely painted interior, with fres-
coes on all four walls painted by Master Thongyu and Master Kongpae, two of the leading
artists of Rama III is reign. They had worked side by side here, and Suwannaram is one
of the greatest surviving examples of first period Rattanakosin mural painting. This style
followed the traditions of Ayutthaya, being essentially light and airy and with a two-di-
mensional form that pre-dated the Siamese use of perspective and which lends a zigzag
appearance to the scenes and episodes depicted. There is, however, a curious perspective
that gives the impression the viewer is looking down from above, into the scenes, and be-
low the stylised representations of celestial and noble beings can be seen the antics of the
common folk. Often comical, and always very human, they are a record of everyday life
of that time. Here there is added interest for the visitor with scenes depicting European
characters, including a man in late-seventeenth century dress peering over battlements
with a telescope and another taking a pop with a rifle, possibly representing the siege of
Bangkok. Another scene shows foreign troops clad in turbans, and judging by the style of
dress and their facial characteristics these are believed to be Persians, there having been
an influential group of Persian merchants at Ayutthaya. The golden image of the Buddha
is in the Subduing Mara position. A curious tradition is attached to this image, which is
believed to have the power of fulfilling wishes for those who perform a forfeit. The forfeit
is known as wingma , which means “horse riding”, and the petitioner must run around the
ubosot three times, straddling a banana tree “horse” and neighing loudly as he goes. An
obliging local once demonstrated this for me. It is highly recommended that anyone per-
forming wing ma has a group of understanding friends present.
A little further along the bank of Klong Bangkok Noi leads to the railway line. Opened
in 1903, it was first built to link to Petchaburi on the west coast of the Gulf of Siam, and
then down to Butterworth, in Malaya. A spur was later added to Kanchanaburi, in the
west, near the Burma border. The trains had left from Thonburi Station, which was de-
signed by the German architect Karl Döhring and built at the mouth of the Bangkok Noi
canal, but as there were no bridges across the Chao Phraya at that time, passengers de-
parting from the Bangkok side had first to take a boat across to the railway station. Rama
V had ordered the building of Thonburi Station, filling in part of Taksin's moat and mov-
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