TEMPLES - CHURCHES AND MOSQUES
Wat Paknam
- Big Buddha at
Wat Paknam |
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พระพุทธธรรมกายเทพมงคล |
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Address: |
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Known as: |
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Great Buddha |
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Description: |
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Deep in a network of canals in the oldest part of Thailand's
capital city stands a newly completed giant clad in glowing
bronze. Towering nearly 70 meters above the ground, the height
of a 20-story building, it is the city's biggest Buddha image,
with a width of 40 meters in its cross-legged meditation
posture.
The image, built since 2017 at a cost of 100 million
baht ($3.3 million), looms over the Klong Dan waterway at Wat
Paknam Phasi Charoen, a temple founded in 1610. Named Dhammakaya
Dhepmongkol, it is the most ambitious recent project of its kind
in the country, reflecting Thailand's continuing reverence for
Buddha images.
Although Wat Paknam is not on the conventional
tourist trail, it is a revered landmark for many Buddhists
because it is where the Dhammakaya Buddhist movement -- whose
teachings conflict with Thailand's majority Theravada tradition
-- was founded in the early 20th century.
The Dhammakaya
movement's popularity has transformed the temple, which was in a
state of disrepair at the end of the 19th century but is now a
wealthy center for Buddhist studies, with hundreds of resident
monks, lay workers and mae chi -- the white-clad lay women who
are often referred to as nuns, although women cannot be ordained
in Thai Buddhism.
An 80 meters high, 12-sided stupa was
completed on the site in 2012, with five floors, a museum, a
hall and a glass chedi (a monument or shrine) of an intense
emerald-green hue, greatly increasing the number of visitors and
revenue flow. (Source: Asia.nikkei.com) |
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Province |
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Bangkok |
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District |
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Phasi Charoen |
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City |
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Pak
Khlong Phasi Charoen |
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Genre |
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Temples-Churches and Mosques |
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Best exposure |
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Opening time |
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n/a |
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Entry fee |
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Free |
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GPS : |
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13.7213, 100.47113 |
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THAILAND THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY 
