Wat Pathum Wanaram

About

Wat Pathum Wanaram — Wat Pathum to most who know it — rises serenely between the towers of Siam Paragon and CentralWorld in Bangkok's Pathum Wan District. Across the street lies Siam Square, and around it the cosmopolitan rhythm of the capital, yet the temple's grounds hold to a quieter cadence shaped by daily monastic life.

The wat was established in 1857 by King Mongkut, Rama IV, as a sanctuary near his Sa Pathum Palace. At its founding the surrounding land was open rice country, reached chiefly along the waters of Khlong Saen Saeb. The temple is a third-class royal foundation of the Thammayut Nikaya order. Its full ceremonial name is Wat Pathum Wanaram Ratcha Wora Viharn.

Among the buildings of the complex stands a sala reconstructed in part from the crematorium of the late Princess Mother of Thailand. That earlier crematorium was a fine example of traditional craftsmanship, decorated with ornate stencils and lacquered carved figures. Known in Thai as phra men, the form itself represents Mount Meru, the cosmic axis of the heavens in Buddhist understanding.

Within the precinct, the House of Mahidol Memorial holds the ashes of members of the Thai royal house descended from Queen Savang Vadhana and Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, gathered in quiet remembrance.

History

Wat Pathum Wanaram was founded by King Mongkut in 1857 as a place of worship near his Sa Pathum Palace, in what was then open rice country far from the city's centre. The temple was assigned to the Thammayut Nikaya order as a third-class royal monastery.

In May 2010, during the violent dispersal of Red Shirts protesters in the Pathum Wan area, the temple was designated a safe zone for the wounded. On 19 May of that year, six people were killed by gunfire from outside the temple walls — a sorrowful chapter that has since shaped the precinct's place in Bangkok's recent memory.