Wat Pho, Bangkok

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after going to the grand palace, go to the reclining buddha, its a gigantic buddha that almost fills up an entire temple...the surrounding gardens and smaller temples are also beautiful...you can also exchange your money for coins to fillup small cans while walking inside the temple...this is their custom for goodluck...

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After a couple of days of trudging through the city's heat and humidity - stoping at the school for a thai massage was an absolute treat - there is nothing quite like it. Don't expect that it will be "relaxing" but you will feel better afterwords. We were then able to enjoy this temple with vigor and excitment. One tip...take shoes that you can take on/off easily since you will be removing them often when you enter the houses of worship.

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I wanted to see the reclining Buddha... and I did :-)
Buddha is huge and shining (golden)!

I loved not only the reclining Buddha but also Wat Pho's shining architectures... such as small towers, main buildings etc.
Their roof is very beautiful.
The small towers have porcelain (bone china?) ornaments. They are very beautiful,too :-)

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On top of being Bangkok's oldest temple is the cradle of Thai Traditional massage and the site of the academy of Thai massage by excelence.

Since the 1960s people from all around the world have come here to learn the art of the massage, related to the Chinese acupuncture and the Indian yoga. A truly Thai experience.

But the big attraction of the temple has to be the Giant Reclining Buddha, which is a whopping 46 metres long ! You definitely cannot see it in one go although the most interesting part of the buddha itself are his feet, designed with mother of pearl and depicting the 108 lakshahnas or auspicious signs of the true Buddha.

Scattered around the complex there are interesting sculpture groups depicting scenes of the religious life, like the one with hermits featuring different poses of yoga and massage.

Wat Pho is officially known as Wat Phra Chetuphon. It is Bangkok's oldest and largest temple. There is a 46m long reclining Buddha in one of the larger viharns. There are several chedis with ceramic decorations.

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At 46 metres, this is the largest reclining Buddha in the world. Gold-leaf finish, mother-of-pearl inlay on the soles of the feet. Walk round in one direction and get a real feel for the sheer enormity of it.

WAT PHO: Located next to the Grand Palace, it's one of the largest temple in Bangkok. Houses the gigantic gold plated Reclining Buddha with inlaid mother of pearl soles(Length = 46 m, Height = 15 m). The temple is sometimes called Thailand's first university as it's regarded as the 1st center of public education.

The Vihara of the Reclining Buddha (Phra Buddhasaiyas) contains the image of the Reclining Buddha which was made of stuccoed bricks gilded with gold leaves.

Dimensions: Length = 46 m, Face Height = 15 m, Foot Length = 5 m, Foot Height = 3 m.

Soles of the statue's feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl showing 108 auspicious signs of Buddha.