Wat Pho, Bangkok

Are you bored of going to temples and looking at buddhas? Well not only does this hold the most famous buddha but Wat Pho has also got a lot of other potential for a day out with decorated gardens with Bonzai trees and fountains and just a great place to go walk about. Theres even a basketball court here maybe for when the monks get bored!

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Wat Pho is Bangkok''s oldest and largest temple. The gigantic gold plated reclining Buddha with inlaid morthe-of-pearl soles is highly revered among Buddhists.

It is a 5-10 min walk from Grand Palace.

In one of the temples of Wat Pho some Thai pupils asked me if they could do an interview with me for their English class. Of course they could! They asked me if it was my first time to Thailand, if I could agree with the statement that Thailand is the land of smile and some more questions.

It was a great experience!

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Visit Wat Po to see the reclining Buddha. Be prepared to be very impressed - it is HUGE !!.

The rest of the Wat is very interesting and beautifully decorated with ceramic mosaics etc.

There are a large number of Buddha statues in varying attitudes.

The massage area is in 2 halls against the outer wall. The halls although hig-ceilinged, are not air conditioned and can get a bit steamy, but for all that, the experience of being massaged by a properly trained Thai masseur is not to be missed

This is one of the main wats (Buddhist temples) in Bangkok and highly recommended. It's near Kao San Road area. Beautiful architecture and main building has the famous huge golden reclining buddha. You can plan to see this and the even more spectactular Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace, which are right next to it.

the sheer size of the buddha is amazing...dont miss it.

We were nearly being con by the local.When we got off the boat, looking for wat pho a local told us wat pho was closed until 4pm today.
He offered to bring us to other places @ 80bahts per head.We decided to ignore him in the end and saw a sign "WAT PHO" turn right. Guess what, the temple is OPEN.....i cant believe these people can lie so well infront of the temple...

Just be careful and ignore local who are telling you it is close for ceremony whatsoever...

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Wat Pho, or The Temple of the Reclining Buddha, is the oldest and largest Buddhist temple in Bangkok. It is home to more Buddha images than any other Bangkok temple and it shelters the largest Buddha in Thailand, the Reclining Buddha.

Wat Pho is the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. Even prior to the temple's founding, the site was a center of education for traditional Thai medicine, and statues were created showing yoga positions.
Wat Pho is the largest and oldest wat in Bangkok and is home to more than 1,000 Buddha images, more than any other temple in the country.

It also shelters the largest Buddha image in Thailand: the Reclining Buddha (Phra Buddhasaiyas). Created as part of Rama III's restoration (1824-51), the Reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high.

His body is covered in gold plating and he is decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay on his eyes and the soles of his feet. The bottoms of the Buddha's feet are intricately decorated with 108 auspicious scenes in Chinese and Indian styles.

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The gold leaf covered Reclining Buddha at Wat Po is the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand, and one of the largest in the world. The reclining figure symbolizes Buddha's passing into Nirvana. The temple around this Buddha has many walls and columns, so that it is hard to get a complete image of the entire figure. There's also fencing to prevent climbing on the huge statue, and in various niches in the temple prayer cermonies are a constant vigil. This is an extremely popular stop for tourists. Consequently most of my images are framed by columns, fencing, ritual ceremonies, and tourists.