Chinatown: Yaowarat's Solid Gold Spiritual Spectacle
Nida Tunsuttiwong
Last week I got the opportunity to visit the remarkable Phra Maha Mondop (‘Great Mondop‘),
which is home to the world’s largest Buddha statue cast from pure gold.
Located at the temple of Wat Traimitr Wittayaram Wora Wiharn in Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown neighborhood, the mondop is an impressive, square-shaped building topped with a spire.
While you’re certain to be wowed by the sheer scale of the gold Buddha image that is housed within the building, a visit to Phra Maha Mondop also provides an interesting insight into its historical links with Chinese immigrants, who are often described as having arrived in the kingdom with ‘one mat and one pillow’.
The grand-opening celebration of Phra Maha Mondop took place during December 24, 2009- January 1, 2010. Just a few days after Phra Maha Mondop opened its gates, I headed to the temple to explore the building, which was established to commemorate His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 80th Birthday Anniversary in 2007.
Phra Maha Mondop is a pale gray-colored structure featuring white marbling and a gold-colored roof. This particular attraction is sensitive towards the needs of elderly guests, as well as people with disabilities.
While the building has four floors, the first floor is basically a multi-purpose area, so I head straight for the second floor, which plays host to the Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Center.
Humble beginnings
The first room you enter in the Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Center features a small theater area. A video presentation shows a group telling the story of a 'Yaowarat Grandpa'. This character represents the earliest Chinese migrants to the kingdom, who were able to live in peace thanks to the benevolence of the Thai monarchs.
You'll find a large model of a Chinese-style junk in the next room, which resembles the kind of vessel that the earliest migrants to the kingdom would have arrived aboard during the reigns of King Rama I (1782-1809), King Rama II (1809-1824) and King Rama III (1824-1851).
Worth ethic pays dividends
Continue through this area and you'll find yourself in an area representing Chinatown's Sampheng market. This setting represents the area around 1957, when business was beginning to boom in the neighborhood. Eleven miniature models in the next room also replicate the life and culture of residents of Bangkok's Yaowarat neighborhood, many of whom began with nothing before going on to make millions or billions of baht.
The third floor serves as an exhibition area focused on Phra Buddha Maha Suwanna Patimakorn - the huge Buddha image housed within the mondop, which is recognized as the world's largest statue cast from pure gold.
The Sukhothai-style image in a 'subduing Mara' posture is included in the Guinness Book of Records as “the sacred object with the highest intrinsic value”. In 2003, it was estimated that the image is valued at almost US$60 million.
A remarkable revelation
Initially covered with plaster, the image was relocated to its current home from the ancient temple of Wat Phraya Krai in 1935. But during a ceremony in 1955 ahead of the image's enshrinement within the new ordination hall, the rope hoisting the image snapped, causing the plaster to crack open and revealing the splendid gold image within.
Phra Buddha Maha Suwanna Patimakorn is now enshrined on the top floor of the mondop. While the hall boasts delicately patterned, traditional Thai artistic decorative features, the room is well lit using a modern system that is neatly hidden from view. As the image is a Sukhothai-style image, it smiles benevolently upon the numerous lay followers who visit to pay homage.
The exhibition halls located on the second and third floors open from Tuesday through Sunday from 8 am to 5 pm. Admission for locals is free, while foreign visitors pay 150 baht each.
Admission to the area housing Phra Buddha Maha Suwanna Patimakorn on the fourth floor costs 40 baht for foreign visitors, while locals can enter for free. This area is open from 8 am to 5 pm daily.
For further information, contact Tel: +66 (0)2 623 3329, or visit http://www.wattraimitr-withayaram.com.
Transport connections:
Train: Take the MRT subway to Hua Lamphong station and on disembarking head for Exit 1. The temple is located about 200 meters along Traimitr Road on the right hand side of the road.
Credit: TAN Network (www.tannetwork.tv)
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