Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the whole of Phra Chan Road, comes alive with vendors selling amulets, and there is no
shortage of buyers: everyone from monks to merchants to tourists shops here.
The reason for all this amulet activity is Wat Mahathat, which predates the founding
of Bangkok itself, and houses relics of the Buddha, the name translating as “Temple of
the Great Relic”. Home to Maha Chulalongkorn Ratchawitthyalai University, the coun-
try's oldest higher education institute for monks, it is the residence of the Supreme Patri-
arch of the Mahanikai sect of Buddhism and also houses the Vipassana meditation school,
which is free for everyone, overseas visitors included. Prince Surasinghanart, whose statue
stands at the main gate facing Sanam Luang and who was a younger brother of Rama
I
, renovated Wat Mahathat around 1783. Further renovation took place when Prince
Mongkut studied here as a young monk, before he became Rama
IV
. he temple com-
pound is a spacious one, although jammed with school buildings, the monks' quarters and
offices, along with what is believed to be the largest ordination hall in Bangkok, and an
almost equally large assembly hall. The small Wiharn Noi is the prayer hall used by Prince
Mongkut, while the red building known as Akarn Watthu was Bangkok's first library. The
most important structure is the
mondop
, or scripture hall, inside of which is the
chedi
in
which are placed the Buddha relics. Covered in gold leaf, the
chedi
is a classic example of
the early Rattanakosin style, while the main Buddha image, Phra Nak, is made of bronze
and sculpted in the Sukhothai style. Somehow, in this crowded temple compound, where
there is even a herbal medicine market, there is room for a garden with tall palm trees,
and despite the crowds and traffic outside the atmosphere inside is one of peace. It must
be the meditation.
At the end of Phra Chan Road is a pier, usually crowded as it is used by students and
staff of the immense sprawl of Siriraj Medical School on the west bank, in addition to
the Thammasat and Silpakorn universities on the east bank. Pass along Maharat Road,
with the overhanging eaves of Wat Mahathat on one side and some dilapidated shoph-
ouses on the river side, followed by the geometric cream-coloured buildings of the Royal
Thai Army, and there on the corner, looking diagonally across to the Grand Palace, are the
grandest shophouses in Bangkok. Built in the late nineteenth century, they show just how
elegant the commercial buildings of that era could be. The Royal Crown Property Bureau
owns the building, which has recently been restored. There are thirty-three units encased
in gleaming white stucco, with pediments and pillars and green painted shutters and win-
dow frames. The splendid premises of the Siam Commercial Bank on the corner retain the
style of an old counting house. This area outside the palace walls was assigned for bathing
