Why the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is special?

Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is an exuberantly colored religious compound built inside the Royal Palace in Bangkok, Thailand.The temple's architecture is visually striking.

The temple's largest and most important building is the Bot (loosely translated as "house of meditation"). Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok is Thailand's most sacred shrine and the king's personal chapel, but everyone is welcome to visit it.

Within the Bot resides the world famous Emerald Buddha (actually made of green jade, not emerald). This 500-year-old holy statue is perched so high above the Bot's golden altar and is so small (only 66 centimeters or 26 inches high) that you could easily miss it if you didn't know where to look.

Original Info: hillmanwonders.com

Highlights in the Grand Palace Complex, Bangkok, Thailand

1. Boromabiman Hall, built by King Rama VI and every king since has lived here at some time.

2. Amarinda Hall, the original residence of King Rama I and the Hall of Justice. Nowadays it's impressive interior is used for ceremonial occasions and coronations. It contains the antique throne, used before the Western style one presently in use.

3. Grand Palace Hall or Chakri Maha Prasat. Visitors are allowed inside the spacious European style reception room.

This building has not been used for royal residence since the mysterious death of King Rama VIII (the older brother of the current King), found shot dead in his room in 1946.

The reverence for the monarchy in Thailand means that, even today, this remains a completely taboo subject to talk publicly about in Thailand.

4. The impressive Dusit Hall, rated as perhaps the finest architectural building in this style.

5. The Museum, which has information on the restoration of the Grand Palace, scale models of the Wat and Palace and numerous Buddha images.

Labels are in Thai only, but there are free English tours available frequently. Entrance is 50B.

Info:into-asia.com

Royal Pantheon in Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok, Thailand

The Royal Pantheon in Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok was constructed during the reign of King Rama IV in 1855. He intended to place the Emerald Buddha here but the building was not completed until after his death.

His successor, King Rama V, considered the building too small to accommodate the congregation at royal ceremonies so the Emerald Buddha was not placed in this building.

A small gilt stupa belonging to King Rama IV was placed there instead.

In 1903 the gilt stupa and part of the edifice were destroyed by fire. King Rama VI repaired the building as the Royal Pantheon of the Chakri Dynasty.

He then installed life size statues of the five preceding kings, those of King Rama VI, VII, and VIII were installed later.

The Royal Pantheon is open to the public each year on April the 6th, the anniversary of the founding of the Chakri Dynasty, to pay homage to their past sovereigns.

Royal Pantheon is called Prasat Phra Thep Bidon in Thailand which means "The Shrine of the celestial Ancestors".
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Info: infothai.com