Saturday 30 August 2008

Day 84

Today, Su-apa kindly took me to see the Grand Palace.  Inside the confines of the palace is a Buddhist temple.  It is the only temple in Bangkok that does not house monks.  This building houses the sacred Buddhist texts.  The building next door houses the ashes of Thailand's past kings.  Both buildings are covered in gold leaf and each color has significance.  It was breathtaking!

In the building surrounding the temple, there is a large painting that tells one of the stories about the Thai kings.  It surrounds the entire temple complex and is huge.  It is also decorated with gold leaf and the picture above doesn't do it justice.  The story panels are located just behind this painting.

Looking at two of the temple buildings from the shade of the story building.