Wednesday, August 15, 2007

WAT PHRA KAEW AGAIN!

BACK TO THE THAI GRAND PALACE - FEBRUARY 1997

The first time I was in Bangkok and in the Grand Palace was in 1983, with Guida and on holiday. This time I returned alone for a meeting, but got some time off to get back to the magnificent palace!


"THE WALL - The palace, erected by Rama I, has an area of 218,400 sq. metres and is surrounded by 1900 metres of walls built in 1782, when Bangkok was founded. Within the walls we find the Royal Chapel of the Emerald Buddha, as well as government offices and royal residences, nowadays used only for occasional ceremonial purposes. The Grand Palace adjoins Wat Phra Kaew in a common compound, but despite the proximity, there's a contrast between the Thai style of the Wat Phra Kaew and the European design of the Grand Palace (with the exception of the roof)"


"TEMPLE"


"KINAREE - Mythological creature, half bird, half woman"




"THE COMPLEX consists of over 100 brightly coloured buildings, golden spires and glittering mosaics... and thousands of tourists!"



"CHAPEL OF THE EMERALD BUDDHA - Wat Phra Kaew is Thailand's most sacred temple. It houses the little (between 60 and 75 cm) Emerald Buddha, which is located inside a glass box, high above the heads of the worshippers and tourists. The statue isn't actually made of emerald but rather of green jade"




"GIANTS -A cloister surrounds the temple, and depicted along is an extensive mural of the Ramakian, the Thai version of the famous Indian epic, the Ramayana"



"GARDENS, TREES and the Chakri Mahaprasad Hall"

19 comments:

Cuckoo said...

It was exactly 10 years back !!

Nice intricate work there. I wonder how it looks like now after 10 years.

Anonymous said...

Cuckoo,
The Palace looks probably much the same; anyhow it has been there for quite a while... The rest might be pretty different, with many more shopping malls...
I was in Bangkok again in 2000, for a conference in Khanchanaburi; crossed the bridge over the River Kwai but can't find a picture or a video! Maybe I was too tired to carry a camera...

Lakshmi said...

How did i miss this temple ?been to the golden buddha and the reclining buddha in bangkok.looks awesome ...

Anonymous said...

It's just around the corner, near the Chao Phraya River and actually a stunning place...

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Tanhk you so much for sharing this beautiful photo's, I was watching your blog several time, but no updates....

We went to Thailand a long time ago to Hay-Yai and Phuket, have you been there already? In Phuket there are houses on the rocks with bananatrees, also on the coast with a seaview, which is very nice...

Enjoy ! :) JoAnn
( I posted yesterday & today some DUTCH cows 'in sepia' today)

Anonymous said...

Hi JoAnn, Thanks.
As I don't have much time, I usually update the main Blotrotter (http://blogtrotta.blogspot.com/) more often than the Revivals...
I've been to Bangkok several times, and also to Kanchanaburi (River Kwai); Pukhet and Phi Phi are on my list!

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

GMG ,
OK I will visit you other blog thanks fro the tip, but I do like this one also very much!

I look forwards to you pic's from pi pi phuket etc, (we were not in the digital camera time while we visited that place... I still feel so sorry for that, thanks to you I 'll be able to see them now...

Bye

Raghu Ram Prasad said...

The place Bankong is very nice..Grand Palace is really fine..nice photographs

Anonymous said...

JoAnn,
I also look forward to getting there...

Raghu,
Thanks!

Ming the Merciless said...

Are those REAL GOLD on statues??? If they are real, it won't last very long in NYC. :-)

Also, I love the manicured trees in the last photo.

Anonymous said...

It's gold, really gold, but in very very very thin layers...

Raghu Ram Prasad said...

Thailand's beautiful pictures of Buddah...is mind blowing

Bla said...

One word: awesome.

suramya said...

hi, your photos of thailand are lovely, unfortunately I didn't get the time to see the place in bangkok as I didn't have the time. its lovely, I must go back there to see it once more.

Anonymous said...

Raghu,
Bla,
Thanks!

Suramya,
You surely have to get back... There are some incredibly beautiful places to see!

Olivier said...

Le temple est magnifique, c'est une de mes architectures préférées. J'aime beaucoup la découpe des arbres sur la dernière.

The temple is splendid, it is one of my preferred architectures. I like much the cutting of the trees on the last.

Anonymous said...

Olivier,
je suis entièrement d'accord. Wat Phra Kaew est probablement le plus beau temple de Bangkok et la decoupe des arbes ma preferée. Je l'avais dejà pris en 1983 (Blogtrotter Revival 70s&802, label Bangkok)...

Raghu Ram Prasad said...

Really nice pictures ...i am very happy to see all the architecture of the picture

Anonymous said...

Raghu,
Thanks once again!