There are a lot of Wats in Thailand

You’ve probably noticed that from our pictures. There is one, however, that is unlike any other. It’s called Wat Rong Khun and it was built in 1996. Actually, it’s still under construction. 

There is so much to say about this amazing place and the man who built it. There really is no way to capture it in words, so I’m going let the pictures tell the story:

So, this is the White Wat, Wat Rong Khun

It looks a lot like a wedding cake and I felt like the whole thing was constructed out of sugar, fondant and royal icing. Its “whiteness” is its most stunning feature because every other Wat you see is a colour assault on the senses. This one radiates serenity.

This guy guards the pond.

My kids are in to dragons, so they loved him.

Look hard.

There are some scary themes here. On either side of the bridge are lakes of “people” grasping upwards from the depths, holding skulls and baskets and backbones, struggling toward the surface. It reminded me of Dante’s allegory for Hell in the Christian tradition. 

“The Bridge of the Cycle of Rebirth” is guarded by two fierce figures, this one, on the left side, facing the bridge is Rahu, or Mara, the controller of man’s fate, the other side is guarded by Death.

There are some very lovely parts of the Wat too.

Hannah thinks this happy dragon looks like he’s in a bubble bath!

And then there are some odd and downright disturbing elements also:

Although, this is the BEST no smoking sign in the history of the world and I’ll frame it on my wall someday!

This Wat is a place of active worship, as you can see.

Buddha.

In spite of the sign announcing otherwise, they let us (as foreigners) in without purchasing a guide. Evidently there’s been some “bad behavior” by foreigners of late. I guess we looked safe enough to them.

The entire place is painted white, as aforementioned, but it’s also covered with mosaic mirror detail. The artist says that this is to represent purity and looking inward, reflection on the condition of the soul.

This is the inside of the Wat:

These pictures were taken from the guide book pamphlet the we bought, you can see more by visiting the website for Wat Rong Khun for yourself. Taking pictures inside a Buddhist temple is not allowed.

This is the wall facing you as you enter the Wat.

Doesn’t it look peaceful? Buddha, in a representation of heaven, with the enlightened. The more you study the pictures there more there is to see. Appropriately, a white Buddha statue is in front of the painting and then on the floor (which you can’t see here) there was a well done wax of a monk, meditating. We looked at him for a long time before we were sure he wasn’t real.

Now, turn around where you’re standing and look at the back wall.

You’ve walked in through Mara’s mouth. The center picture shows the whole wall, the two on either side are expansions of the panels on either side of the door. Spend a few minutes and look very carefully… tell me what you see:

Here’s some of what we noticed:

• Star Wars figures
• Michael Jackson
• Freddy Kruger
• Time
• Natural Diasters
• Man made diasaters (see the twin towers burning?)
• Ancient cultures (the pyramid at Chichen Itza is in there)
• The space race
• Dragons
• Cities
• The bomb blast over Japan
• Neo, from The Matrix
• Predator (like in the garden picture above)
• And they’ve added a figure from Avatar riding a dragon, which doesn’t show up in this picture
• Buddha presiding “above it all” serenely at the top.

But what really struck us were the eyes:

Go ahead, take a look… closely… I’m not sure if you’ll be able to see it in the picture or if you have to be in the room:

Bush & Bin Laden

Their faces are in the pupils of the eyes of the evil beast.

Wow.

What you can’t see:

Is the side wall, that they are painting on now, connecting the back wall to the front wall. In it, people are riding in celestial boats, escaping the evils of this world, achieving enlightenment, joining Buddha in his serene state, above it all, in “heaven.”

And did you notice, the inside of the Wat is anything but white!

Chalermchai Kositpipat

Say that name three times fast!

That’s the name of the man who built this Wat. He’s an individual, an artist, and when he made his fortune (helping to illustrate a book commissioned by the King) he returned to his village to build a Wat.

Things I like about this guy:

• He’s used his own money and he doesn’t allow large contributions. No money is collected anywhere at the Wat.
• He’s the artist and the designer of this Wat. It’s his vision of what Buddhism means.
• He built it even though everyone thought he was nuts. I like that kind of grit.
• He built it in his home village and has taught the artists himself so that they also are from his own village. 
• His money serves a triple purpose: a gift to god, a gift to mankind (us), a gift to his village. What a great guy.

“I am awfully lucky to have been born and able to do the things I love. I happen to become successful and rich, with a chance to attain dhamma and find mental happiness since I was 40, and see the light that will lead me to the extinction of suffering (nirvana) when I was 50….

 

…My reason for building the temple and creating art work is just for the sake of letting go and not clinging….

 

... Money and possessions are insignificant. They are not mine but are only make-beliefs. Merits belong to me; therefore, money is of no value to me. Money is valuable only as a way to make meet for further journey of the soul…

And then, Ezra had to go to the bathroom.

You knew that would happen if you’ve been paying any attention at all over the long haul.

This is the bathroom:

Needless to say, we were “wowed!”

Nicest bathroom we’ve EVER been in (even if I was forbidden from using the squatty side (which was open) because I was western and that was for “Thais” and the “Western toilets are over there –>”

Now THIS looks like a real Wat! 

Bring on the GOLD, Baby!!

But nothing this guy does is by mistake. Here sits a gold gilt bathroom next to a pristine white house of worship. Let’s think about this:

The temporal is a gilded outhouse.

And yet this is what people notice first. And this is where everyone who comes will stop to “worship” whether they enter the Wat or not. 

Life, for too many of us, is about gilding the outhouse when the real treasure is standing right there, quietly waiting.

Like I said, I like this guy.

“Now this makes more sense, Mama!” 

Said Elisha on the way out of the parking cones. 

“On the way in, I just thought it meant, “Park here, and DIE!”