#wat traimit

[asiablog-universe]

Golden Buddha, Wat Traimit, Bangkok, Thailand: The Golden Buddha, officially titled Phra Phuttha Maha Suwanna Patimakon, commonly known in Thai as Phra Sukhothai Traimit, is a gold Maravijaya Attitude seated Buddharupa statue, with a weight of 5.5 tonnes. It is located in the temple of Wat Traimit, Bangkok, Thailand. Wikipedia

[itslandscapess]

Golden Buddha

[ishiganto]

Wat Traimit - Temple of the Golden Buddha. 石敢當

[southeastasiadiary]

Day Twenty-Eight: All Good Things Must Come to an End; Final Thoughts

The itinerary for this last day was to include a visit to the Jim Thompson House and then my transfer to the airport for the flight home. But since I’d already visited the Jim Thompson House on the day I arrived in Bangkok, I had the entire day to myself.

So, I decided to divide it (like Caesar's Gaul) into three parts. First thing in the morning, while it was still cool (or more accurately, when it was only blazingly hot but not to the point where it would cause you to combust spontaneously), I decided to take a stroll around Bangkok’s Chinatown because my hotel was right in the middle of it.

Here is about one minute of a three-minute stroll through the morning market:

If you want to see the full three-minute clip, you’ll need to go to shared photo album. I’m delighted to bring you the sights and sounds out this market, but not (fortunately or not) the aromas.

Of course, what Chinatown would be complete without a Mister Hotdog directly across the street from a Texas Suki and a shop selling “Authentic Chinese Cuisine”?

And it’s always nice to be reminded that “We are a part of your delicious.”

In my walk, I chanced upon a small neighborhood shrine

that was complete with gifts, which had just been brought there by people on their way to work that morning.

Then, a bit later, I saw this lovely statue of Confucius

and a singularly elegant spirit house with a prang on top.

The non-random part of my walk was my one pre-determined destination: the Wat Traimit,

Temple of the Golden Buddha.

Now perhaps, if you’ve been keeping up with this blog, this must be a temple of a golden Buddha since you've already seem more than your fair share of golden Buddhas. Ah, but here’s the difference. All the other golden Buddhas were made of other materials and then covered with gold leaf. This particular Buddha is solid gold, 15’9” high and 12’5” wide, weighing 5.5 tons … of solid gold. In times of invasion, the statue was covered with plaster so that it would look less valuable than it was.

In time, since the statue looked as though it was merely made of plaster, people forgot what was inside. Only in 1955, when there were plans to move the statue from another site to here at the Wat Traimit, did some of the plaster fall off, and it became clear that underneath a shallow façade was a virtual mountain of gold.

And today, if you like, you can buy a pre-packaged bottle of holy water at the temple for only twenty baht.

After visiting the Golden Buddha, I returned to the hotel for breakfast, a shower, and a brief rest before checking out.

The second part of the day has not yet occurred, but I need to post this entry now while I have access to the Internet. Since I’ve yet to experience Thai massage or, for that matter, any massage in Southeast Asia, I've booked a few hours in a spa this afternoon between my check-out time and my departure for the airport. Thai massage is one of the things that people often talk about after visiting Bangkok, and I have a few empty hours on my hands, so …

When booking the appointment I told them that my spa visit would occur shortly before a thirty-hour flight back home, so I wanted to feel “clean and refreshed but also relaxed.” They assured me they have “just the thing.” (When do businesses not have “just the thing” when you make an inquiry?) I'll be in for a body cleanse and scrub, followed by a gentle aromatherapy massage.

We’ll see how that goes. If you truly want to know, ask me in person sometime.

Now, the third part of my day will be to engage in a bit of post-trip reflection. And I've already given that topic a lot of thought during my walkabout this morning. So, here goes.

This experience in Southeast Asia was one of my long-term goals. You might even say it was a life goal. At least, it was something I'd talked about for years and felt I absolutely needed to do. So, life goal accomplished!

But here's the funny thing about life goals. Once you achieve them, you have mixed feelings. On the one hand, there's a major sense of accomplishment. On the other, it feels as though a milestone in life has now past, and you wonder whether there will ever be other goals that you’ll long for quite that much. Not to exaggerate, but it feels as though a part of your life is now over and that you’ve passed one more signpost on the road toward mortality.

I remind myself that I’d had similar feelings before. When I was very young, my life goal had been to get a Ph.D. and become a college professor. (Seriously. I remember telling people this as early as fifth grade.) Then, when I was 26 and had achieved that goal, I thought, “Well, now what?”

Other goals came along, of course. There was a period when, if people asked whether I had a “bucket list,” I’d say, “I want to do three things. See the pyramids in Egypt, visit Kyoto, and attend the Wagner festival at Bayreuth.” Then, by a strange turn of fate, I did all three of those things within the same six-month period and again thought, “Now what?”

But there was always that Southeast Asia trip left for me to plan. So, now it's over. Okay, now what?

The honest answer is “I don’t know” but also “I’m sure I’ll think of something. I always have.”

As this trip comes to an end, I find myself reminded of that article I mentioned on Day Nine: “The Case Against Travel.” The author’s argument was that people always say they travel because travel changes them, but everyone returns from a trip no different from the person they were before setting out.

So, am I the same person I was before this trip?

Absolutely.

But I don’t really think that’s the point. Certainly, there can be zen-like, blinding flashes of insight during a trip, like a flash of gold appearing from beneath a thin façade of plaster. I already mentioned once being in Rome and realizing, “Oh! That’s what Horace meant in his poetry!” and never seeing his works in the same way again. But those experiences are rare.

More often, travel changes you slowly over time. You don’t see those changes in a single day, a single week, or even a single year. Rather it’s like the slow polishing of a stone into a statue. It takes time. It happens almost imperceptibly. And eventually you realize that you actually aren’t the same person you were before. You’ve broadened your perspective, left behind a few assumptions, and made connections between ideas you never would've made before.

That’s a good thing.

No. I'm wrong.

That’s a great thing.

In fact, as far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the best things a person can do.

And I wonder where I’ll go next and how that experience might change me.

I can't wait.

[wolfie-indochine]

Wat Traimit temple in Bangkok, with altar to the king in front.

[saonetvn]

Khám phá bí ẩn ngôi chùa Phật Vàng ở Thái Lan - canhnguyen

Khám phá bí ẩn ngôi Chùa Phật Vàng ở Thái Lan Nằm ngay gần với trung tâm của thủ đô Bangkok, đó chính là ngôi Chùa Vàng (tên tiếng Thái là Wat Traimit

[saonetvn]

Clip tham quan Chùa Phật vàng ở Thái Lan, còn có tên tiếng Việt là Chùa Phật Vàng, là một ngôi chùa nổi tiếng ở Bangkok, Thái Lan

[42soul]

Golden Buddha by manjik