Beauty and Magic of Temple Rong Khun in Chiang Rai, Thailand

I post a picture in the past about Wat Rong Khun in Chaing Rai, North Thailand and I thought this temple deserve a Post, Because of its originality and Its crazy architecture. There are well over 33 000 temples in Thailand and many of them are very special and deserve to be noticed by travelers and readers. Wat Rong Khun or mostly called "the White Temple" is one of them, It is not a regular Temple in many ways. This temple starts to emerge from the mind of the visionary artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, a renowned artist in Thailand, well known for his paintings of the Buddha's life in an unprecedented style where geometry mix with modern design, pop art, and psychedelic. His painting costs a lot and he was one of the favorite painters from the regretted King Rama 9, Bhumibol Adulyadej. The king asks the painter to illustrate some of the king's art books.

The temple construction starts in 1997 and must be finished by 2027. The temple is open to the public since 2010 and it still expanding. All the temple and other building are white with tiny mirror encrusted in the concrete. The white for the Purity and the mirror for the self-reflection, the essence of the Buddha teaching. Many peoples are thinking Buddhism as a religion but the true legacy of Buddha is the Vipassana, a meditation that brings to the elevation of the spirit and the enlightenment of the people.

The temple like most of the temples in Thailand is made of different building or structures with their own symbolism. The main Building is the "Ubosot" in Thai (main temple) all white and mirrored it has a typical Thai style temple roof of 3 stages ornamented all around with Naga (snake like creature) in the mythology it is said that the naga with seven head come behind the Buddha during his meditation to protect him. The inside of the temple is very simple compared to Thai temple where there are statues all over the place. It has one Buddha statue made of concrete. All around the wall are painted with a whirlwind of fire with Demon looking faces and Terminator, Neo from Matrix, Superman, Freddy Krueger, Hello Kitty with a few others... Meaning how people are wicked today.

To enter the temple you have to pass on the bridge of rebirth, a white bridge over a sea of hands standing out of the earth. Some hands look human, some with claws or with an eye in the middle, it represents the greed, the desire and the temptation of the people. Then you have to pass through the Heaven gate (Pathu Sawan in Thai). represented by two Yak (Demon like creature) symbolizing death. Then you can enter the Temple. It is made in accordance with the Buddha philosophy to make people think on their life.

There is other structures all around like the tree of wishes where people can get a kind of metal keys holder and put a wish on it and it gets attached to the tree. The well of prosperity where like in many other places you can throw a coin in it and make a wish of prosperity. The golden building who symbolizes the body of the person and the Ubosot is the mind. The Stupa or Chedi a sky pointing structure with remaining of the Buddha at its base. Wat Rong Khun still expanding today and it is planned to continue the construction for another 10 years. It is a place I encourage you to visit you can also buy some limited art printing of Chalermchai Kositpipat at the museum at the temple.

Some of the pictures I posted were taken a day after the 2015 earthquake so you can notice some damaging on the buildings. It is all been repair today

Peace and Happiness to All