Wat Phra Kaeo

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Beyond the Emerald Buddha

Grand Palace, Bangkok

Stifling crowds wait for a glimpse of the Emerald Buddha at Wat Phra Kaeo. Photo by David Lansing.

The crowds to see the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo, the final resting place for the sacred Emerald Buddha, perhaps the most important image in Thailand, are staggering. It’s like Disneyland on the busiest day in summer.

And yet if you allow yourself to focus on the smallest wonders of the complex instead of the largest, you’ll find there’s serenity in the details that are ignored by most tourists—the fabulous Ramakien figures lining the chedi; the stunning 112 small garudas (mythical beasts that are half-man, half-bird) encircling the exterior of the bot of the Emerald Buddha; the gilded apsonsi images (another mythical creature, this time half-woman, half-lion), around the upper terrace of the Wat Phra Kaeo.

Like everyone else, I took off my shoes and snaked inside the bot for a quick glimpse of the Emerald Buddha, being pushed and shoved from all side while chided by guards to keep moving. Except for the lacerating heat and blanket smell of a hundred sweating bodies in close quarters, it was a totally forgettable experience. A close-up view of the golden lion woman looking as if she were about to fly up into the sky, however, left me breathless.

Ramakien figures guard the chedi at Wat Phra Kaeo. Photo by David Lansing.

 

Angel guardians decorate the wall of the library of the Grand Palace. Photo by David Lansing.

 

One of the Demon Guards protecting the chedi. Photo by David Lansing.

 

Half-woman and half-lion, this gilded apsonsi looks as if she’s ready to take to the skies. Photo by David Lansing.

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