House of Mahidol Memorial at Wat Pathum Wanaram (2)

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/

References

External links

Pathum Wanaram Pathum Wan district Thai Dhammayut Buddhist temples Registered ancient monuments in Bangkok {{Bangkok-stub

History

House of Mahidol Memorial

Incident

See also

References

External links