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

King Mongkut, Rama IV, founded the Temple in 1857 beside his Sa Pathum Palace, when the area was still open rice country reached only by the Khlong Saen Saeb canal. It was established as a third-class royal monastery of the Thammayut Nikaya order, and one of its sala halls was built in part from the crematorium raised for the Princess Mother of Thailand, its ornate stencilled and lacquered work representing Mount Meru, the cosmic axis of the heavens. In May 2010, during the violent dispersal of protesters in the Pathum Wan area, the Temple was declared a safe zone for the wounded, and six people were killed by gunfire from outside its walls, a sorrowful chapter the Temple has held in quiet memory since.

Significance

The House of Mahidol Memorial within the compound holds the ashes of members of the Thai royal family descended from Queen Savang Vadhana and Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, forebears of the present dynasty. Set between two of the busiest shopping districts in Southeast Asia, the Temple's grounds hold to their own quieter cadence of monastic life, a working reminder that the city grew up around the wat rather than the other way round. Devotees still come to sit in the shade of its courtyard as Bangkok's traffic and towers rise on every side.

Architecture

Traditional Thai royal-temple form; a third-class royal monastery of the Thammayut Nikaya order