Bangkok’s gem: Temple of the Dawn

Press, 4 July 1978, Page 17

Bangkok’s gem: Temple of the Dawn

Story and pictures by

NAYLOR HILLARY

Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, dominates the skyline on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, in the suburb of Thonburi. across the river from the centre of Bangkok.

A steady procession of tourists visits the base of the temple’s main tower, the Phra Prang. Most visitors arrive by boat and must brave arcades of eager hawkers and souve-nir-sellers before they reach the tower. Fewer visitors venture to climb the steep, awk-wardly-spaced steps that lead to the galleries of the central prang, or tower. And fewer still take time to explore the peaceful group of monastery buildings which surround the tower.

It is the soaring splendour of the central tower of Wat Arun which captures the imagination and dazzles the senses. The tower is 240 feet high (75 metres). It stands on a platform flanked by four smaller towers and extensive restoration work is returning the whole area to the splendour it knew a century ago. Each of the five spires is covered with elaborate carvings which are, in turn, picked out with minute pieces of porcelain and glass. The impression, from a distance, is that of a building inlaid with thousands of precious stones. On close inspection much of the colour and decoration comes from broken chinaware —

plates, bowls and cups — with segments spread like the petals of flowers. Tradition has it that trade goods from China, broken in transit, provided the inspiration for deco-

rating Wat Arun with what looks like the remains of a vast smashing spree in a palace kitchen. A monastery has. existed on the site of Wat Arun for hundreds of years, but the present grand collection of prangs is relatively new. King Rama II of Thailand set about enlarging the temple in 1785 and the work continued throughout his lifetime. His son, King Rama 111, carried on

the work and the monastery was completed in 1820. Acting on his late father’s instruction. King Rama 111 laid the foundation stone for the soaring

Phra Prang in September, 1842. His son, King Rama IV, in turn, added the ceramic decorations. He also gave the temple its modern name of Wat Arun. Until then it had been known as Wat Jang, but Arun, in Thai, is a more precise word for “dawn” than Jang, which also has related meanings of “clear” and “bright.” Todav the work of res-

toration is marked by scaffolding in a web round one of the four lesser towers. But much of the work is finished.

The Phra Prang is built on a square base 234 metres in circumference. Stone steps guarded by fierce Chinese figures lead up to a first terrace which has small pagodas, built in a Khmer style, at each corner. Further steps lead to a second balcony. Steep stone steps lead to a third, final, balcony on the great prang. The balcony winds round the angles of the centra! tower and offers a grand view of the temples surrounding the prangs, and of Bangkok itself across the river.

Above the final balcony rises the upper half of the

great prang. Only a vertical iron ladder set in the stone gives access for maintenance work higher up. The whole edifice is crowned, like the four smaller prangs, with the elaborate trident of the god Shiva. The upper pillar of the prang is supported by stone angels with a large figure of the god Indra riding the three-headed elephant, the Erawan, in a niche.

The descent from the top balcony, down narrow steps set. much too far apart for comfort, is not to be undertaken lightly. But the climb is worth the effort and Wat Arun leaves the visitor with a sense of charm and grandeur in the warmth of tropical sunshine.