Wat Pathum Wanaram ( th, วัดปทุมวนาราม) or Wat Pathum for short is a
Buddhist temple in
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. It is located in the
Pathum Wan District
Pathum Wan ( th, ปทุมวัน, ) is one of the fifty districts (''khet'') of Bangkok, Thailand. It lies just beyond the old city boundary of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem, and was a rural area on the eastern outskirts of the city when roya ...
, between the two shopping malls
Siam Paragon
Siam Paragon ( th, สยามพารากอน) is a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of the largest malls in Thailand, along with IconSiam, CentralWorld and CentralPlaza WestGate.
Siam Paragon includes a range of specialty s ...
and
CentralWorld
CentralWorld ( th, เซ็นทรัลเวิลด์, styled as centralwOrld) is a shopping plaza and complex in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the ninth largest shopping complex in the world. The complex, which includes a hotel and office t ...
, and across the street of
Siam Square
Siam Square ( th, สยามสแควร์, ) is a shopping and entertainment area in the Siam area of Bangkok, Thailand. The square is located at the corner of Phayathai Road and Rama I Road and is owned by Chulalongkorn University, mana ...
.
History
The temple was founded in 1857 by King
Mongkut (Rama IV) as a place of worship near his
Sa Pathum Palace
Sa Pathum Palace ( th, วังสระปทุม, ) is a royal residence in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, Thailand. It has been a residence of the Thai Royal Family, especially the House of Mahidol, since the 19th century, and is the official ...
. At the time of its founding the area was still only rice fields, only accessible via the
Khlong Saen Saeb. The temple is a third class royal temple of the
Thammayut Nikaya
Dhammayuttika Nikāya (Pali; th, ธรรมยุติกนิกาย; ; km, ធម្មយុត្តិកនិកាយ, ), or Dhammayut Order ( th, คณะธรรมยุต) is an order of Theravada Buddhist ''bhikkhus'' (mon ...
order. The full name of the temple is Wat Pathum Wanaram Ratcha Wora Viharn (วัดปทุมวนารามราชวรวิหาร).
Among the various buildings of the temple is a ''
sala'' partially reconstructed from the
crematorium
A crematorium or crematory is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a crematorium can also b ...
of the late
Princess Mother of Thailand. The crematorium was a rare example of ancient craftsmanship featuring ornate stencils and lacquered sculptures. Known in Thai as ''phra men'', it represents
Mount Meru
Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritu ...
, the heavenly abode of the gods.
House of Mahidol Memorial
The ashes of
Thai Royal Family
The Chakri dynasty ( th, ราชวงศ์ จักรี, , , ) is the current reigning dynasty of the Kingdom of Thailand, the head of the house is the king, who is head of state. The family has ruled Thailand since the founding of the ...
members in the line of Queen
Savang Vadhana
Sri Savarindira ( th, ศรีสวรินทิรา; , 10 September 1862 – 17 December 1955), also known as Savang Vadhana ( th, สว่างวัฒนา; ), was a consort and half-sister of Chulalongkorn (Rama V), but she was no ...
and Prince
Mahidol Adulyadej are interred at House of Mahidol Memorial inside the temple.
Incident
In 2010, during the
crackdown
Crackdown may refer to
* ''Crackdown'' (web series)
* ''Crackdown'' (video game series)
** ''Crackdown'' (video game)
** ''Crackdown 2
''Crackdown 2'' is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Ruffian Games and published by ...
of
Red Shirts anti-government protesters, Wat Pathum Wanaram was used as a "safe zone" for injured people to get first aid. On 19 May 2010, six people were killed by bullets shooting from outside the temple.
[https://asiancorrespondent.com/2010/05/what-happened-at-wat-pathum-wanaram/]
See also
*
Siam District
References
External links
Pathum Wanaram
Pathum Wan district
Thai Dhammayut Buddhist temples
Registered ancient monuments in Bangkok
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