The Thai Wat: An Architectural Tour

by Kenneth Champeon, Jan 9, 2003 | Destinations: Thailand / Bangkok

The singh, or lion-dragon, typically appears sitting at entrances to a wat, including Bangkok's Wat Phra Keo. Harmless to humans, the singh inhabits the mythical forest Himaphan, a place of never-ending rice.

Image © 2001 Ken Champeon

The norasingh, another lion-like human-headed Himaphan inhabitant, is related to the singh and is usually depicted standing.

A sickly and hairless, but amiable pariah dog ambles up to you; his tail-wagging and tongue-lolling are interrupted only by his spasmodic nips at the flies pestering his backside.

You bump into the trunk of a giant, sinewy tree with spade-like leaves: "a Bo, or Bodhi tree. Often gated and containing a sitting Buddha and his disciples, the Bodhi tree is sacred to Buddhists, being the tree under which the Buddha became enlightened. Some trees are purported to have grown from clippings of the original tree in Bodh Gaya, India." Adjacent the Bo tree is a structure suggesting the aftermath of a construction-paper factory explosion, "a dtoong. Every Thai New Year, cartloads of sand are brought into the temple, formed into a pagoda shape, and stuck through with these colorful strips of crepe, ornately cut and inscribed. Temple-goers believe that through a year's traffic, the temple has lost this much sand; this merit-making act is their way of returning it."

A story told with photos.

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Image © 2001 Ken Champeon

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The Thai Wat: An Architectural Tour

Image © 2001 Ken Champeon

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Thailand / China / India

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