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Wat Traimit Withayaram Worawihan (Wat Traimit Withayaram Worawihan)

661 Charoen Krung Rd, Khwaeng Talat Noi, Khet Samphanthawong, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10100, Thailand

"The Golden Buddha Temple (Wat Traimit) located in Bangkok's Chinatown is a Royal temple famous for its huge golden Buddha. This temple is extremely famous, officially named Wat Traimit Withayaram Worawihan enshrining the statue. Giant solid gold Buddha named Phra Phuttha Maha Suwan Patimakon."

For centuries, the true identity and value of the Buddha statue was unknown, until the 1950s it was discovered that the Buddha statue was made of solid gold. The statue is more than 3 meters tall, weighs about 5 and a half tons and is about 700 to 800 years old. This is the largest solid gold Buddha statue in the world.

The origin of the Buddha statue is not exactly known. Based on the appearance of the Buddha image, historians believe that the statue was cast during the Sukhothai period, the Kingdom that existed from 1238 to 1438 with the city of Sukhothai as the center in Northern Thailand.

After the fall of Sukhothai and the rise of the Ayutthaya Kingdom (1350 - 1767), the statue was probably moved to a temple in Ayutthaya. In 1767 Ayutthaya was destroyed by Burmese invaders. Before that, the golden Buddha statue was covered with a layer of plaster to camouflage it and prevent it from being stolen by the Burmese.

After Ayutthaya was destroyed, the statue may have remained in Ayutthaya unnoticed, and its true origin and value forgotten.

After King Rama I established Bangkok as the new capital, he ordered thousands of Buddha statues to be brought from the northern regions to Bangkok because of the still-present Burmese threat. The Golden Buddha is taken to Wat Chotanaram in Bangkok. In the 1930s, the statue appeared in Wat Traimit, still covered in plaster.

In 1955, a temple was erected to house the statue. When the Golden Buddha was moved to the new building by crane, a cable broke and the statue fell to the muddy ground. The workers fled for fear of bad luck. The next day, a monk returned to the temple, he found the statue still in the mud but some of the plaster had broken revealing the yellow color, thus the true value of the statue was known.

In 2008, a 3-storey building named Phra Maha Mondop was erected to house the Golden Buddha. The first floor is a museum, Chinatown Heritage Center, where visitors can learn about the history of Chinatown and the Chinese who immigrated to Bangkok. The second floor is an exhibition on the history of the Golden Buddha. The top floor of Phra Maha Mondop is where the Golden Buddha is located.

The temple is open from 08:00 to 17:00 except Monday and there is no entrance fee

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Nearby attractions

Grand Palace of Thailand

"If you can only choose one place to visit during your visit to Bangkok, the Royal Palace is the first place you should think of. Built in 1782, the palace was commissioned by King Rama I, who founded it. Although the palace is no longer the official administrative seat of the government or the residence of the King of Thailand, most of the structures here have been preserved intact to this day. "

Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun)

"Arun Temple (Wat Arun) locally known as Wat Chaeng, is a famous temple on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. It is one of the most beautiful temples in Bangkok, not only because of its riverside location but also because of its location. the design is very different from other temples you can visit in the Thai capital."

Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew)

Temple of the Emerald Buddha is located inside the grounds of the Royal Palace in the heart of Bangkok's Old Town. The palace grounds are divided into three parts: the inner court, the middle court and the outer court. In the outer court, where you will find Wat Phra Kaew. This temple is one of the main reasons why visitors flock to the Grand Palace.