Bustling Bangkok | Part 4 | Temple of the Emerald Buddha

During our vacation, we spent seven days in Bangkok. I’m going to split our time in Bangkok into multiple parts to cover a wide range of information about the places we visited, the modes of transportation, and the costs involved.

In this fourth chapter, I’ll share our visit to Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Wat Phra Kaew

Wat Phra Kaew is known as the most significant temple in Thailand, as it houses the Emerald Buddha, considered the country’s sacred palladium. The temple was built by King Rama I in 1785, reflecting its grand history.

Wat Phra Kaew covers a large area with multiple halls and dagobas. The floor map below gives a basic idea of how much there is to see during a visit.

_{Resource: Wikipida}

The Emerald Buddha is a meditating Buddha image, about 66 cm tall, carved from green jasper (commonly mistaken for emerald), and adorned with golden robes. As our tour guide mentioned, the King holds ceremonies three times a year to change the Buddha’s robes according to the seasons.

_{Official Web Site}

Location and Entrance

Wat Phra Kaew is located in Phra Nakhon, within the premises of the Grand Palace. You can easily reach it by cab, and parking is available. Refer to their website for more details on reaching the temple by BTS or MRT.

Tickets for the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha cost 500 baht per person. Opening hours are from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm every day. Tickets can only be purchased at the entrance. Please note that visitors are required to wear modest clothing with covered shoulders and legs, appropriate for temples.

Google Map

Explore the Elegance

The glamorous elegance common to Thai temples was very present here. Even though we had little understanding of what each building represented, all of them were covered in gold leaf and gilded mosaics, making the temple complex sparkle in the sunlight. When we visited, it was sunny even in the morning, and the place was quite crowded, but we still managed to capture some beautiful moments.

The gold, blue, and green color combinations created a breathtaking atmosphere that you must experience for yourself!

At the entrances to some buildings stand giant demon guardians, also under dagobas as well.

This temple also has special importance to us as Sri Lankans, since it includes a dagoba built in the Sri Lankan style to celebrate the arrival of Buddhism from Sri Lanka to Thailand.

You can closely observe the architectural significance of the buildings and roofs. The roofs are mostly multi-tiered, with decorative ends shaped like bird heads. The walls are decorated with glazed ceramic tiles in green and orange, adding vibrance and beauty.

The Emerald Buddha

The hall housing the Emerald Buddha is open to visitors, but photography inside is strictly prohibited. We had to remove our shoes before entering. The interior is richly decorated with wall paintings and abundant golden ornaments.

We were, however, allowed to take photographs from outside, and below are some of them.

If you take your time, you can easily spend 1–2 hours here. Unfortunately, our tour guide was in a bit of a rush, so we covered things more quickly.