Beautiful sunny day: walking around the temple with strange statues.

This post could be seen as a second part of my previous post on Wat Pariwat. Here I would take a walk around the ground of the temple and a look at the temple from the outside. What struck me about this temple was the spacious parking space for cars and the big bonsai trees around the temple. Some of these bonsai trees must have been over fifty years’ old at least. The fashion for bonsais was started during the reign of King Rama III when trading with Chinese merchants from China was at the height of Siamese trading history.

These merchant ships brought stone sculptures, beautiful ceramic, Chinese furniture, bonsai plants to Siam. So, many trendy temples would place bonsai trees all around their temples to show off and compete with each other. Some wealthy people often had bonsai trees in their gardens to show that they were fashionable. Most Royal Palaces would have many old bonsai trees around the garden as a heritage from the past.

There used to be many old trees in the temple ground but big trees were cleared off for the construction of temple buildings and car parks. Some old trees could still be spotted by the river and temple pier. The layout of this old temple was rather different from most temples in the city center. I was surprised to see the two traditional main halls being so small amidst plenty of open space in the temple. The design of these halls was very unconventional and strange looking statues decorated the roof and walls. These have become the main attraction for visitors to this temple.

I had a brief look inside one of the temple halls; the other one was still under renovation. The artists and sculptors were very imaginative and daring in creating such unique decorations for Buddhist temple. This is probably the only temple in Thailand with such wonderful and strange statues from mythical stories in India, China and Greece.

I felt as if I was walking in a museum or art gallery. The atmosphere was very quiet and calm as this temple is located a bit far from city center; very few people ventured out this far during the lockdown of the country. It was nice to have the whole place to myself, except for a few visiting months on the pier.

Next time I have the chance to go there again, I would bring my picnic basket to enjoy the sunset by the river. I never had a nice glass of wine by the river before though I had enjoyed myself with seafood and good wine by the sea several years ago. Those were the good old days with precious memories. I do wonder when we would be able to
enjoy life fully with the sense of freedom from fear and stress of global upheavals. I guess we are very lucky and I should be counting my blessings and make the best of each moment!

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.