Friday, 17 February 2023 -
We began the day in Bangkok at the flower market.
Bananas by the bunch - they were smaller than the ones we purchase in the U.S.
Artwork on the place entrance.
Tosakanth kidnaps the Queen of King Rama whose name is Sida, and takes her to Longka city, where he hopes that she will fall in love with him, but alas she does not.
There are 178 panels to the story - here Hanuman volunteered to guard him by enlarging himself, encircled the pavilion with his arms, and keep the royal pavilion in his mouth.
The statue is covered in its winter gold cloak.
We were not allowed to take pictures inside the temple so this picture is taken from outside through an open door.
The spire is supported by garudas on its four sides; as well as being the symbol of kingship, the garuda represents the mythical creatures of the Himavanta forest surrounding Mount Meru.
Wat Pho is one of Bangkok's oldest temples. It existed before Bangkok was established as the capital by King Rama I in the mid-16th century.
The reclining Buddha is 150 feet long and 50 feet high - it is huge. The figure has a brick core, which was modeled and shaped with plaster, then gilded. It was added to the complex in 1832.
In the center is a gold and crystal three-tiered pedestal topped with a gilded Buddha made of a gold-copper alloy, and over the statue is a nine-tiered umbrella representing the authority of Thailand.
We would slow for some reason and we could take pictures of the homes along the canal.
The worst time of the entire trip - maybe of all or travels.
The temple has been here since the 17th century, however, the tall prang (spire) was built in the early 19th century.
The central prang symbolises Mount Meru of the Hindu cosmology. The satellite prang are devoted to the wind god, Phra Phai.
