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.

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.

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.
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.

More From This Author

Typee, by Herman Melville

Girls with Flowers in their Hair

Indonesia
Kenneth Champeon
From top to bottom: Sawasdee jao (pronounced 'sawatdee'), sawasdee, jai, aroy, aroy dee, mai pen rai, sabai sabai, sabai.

10 Essential Thai Words and Phrases

Thailand
Kenneth Champeon
The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), written and directed by Tran Anh Hung

On Being Green and Vietnamese

Vietnam
Kenneth Champeon
A History of Cambodia by David Chandler.

Cambodian Dreams Deferred

Cambodia
Kenneth Champeon
About ThingsAsian

ThingsAsian is an Asia travel website with stories contributed by a worldwide community. Although we cover a wide range of topics, our emphasis is on art, culture, history and travel. Our writers, photographers and contributors are real people who tell you the stories of their personal travels and experiences. Some of the countries we currently cover are Burma, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Email: info@thingsasian.com

© 1994-2015 Global Directions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.