Bangkok’s Wat Pariwat is embellished with intricate, mosaic figures that are outside of expectations and yet in keeping with Buddhist teachings
Visitors stop short at what they see. Popeye wedged into a corner, his outstretched arms braced against the walls. Captain Hook standing high on top of a column. Wolverine, knuckle-bladed, crouching. Along borders are Arachne, Medusa and Cyclops; above the eaves, elegant butterfly-like beings hover. Everywhere, sacred architecture is crowded with the fantastical, with figures drawn from ancient myth, the animal kingdom, history and pop culture – Batman, Che Guevara, Barack Obama, Donald Duck, David Beckham, Albert Einstein... Can this really be a Buddhist temple?
the ordination hall (ubosot)
Situated by the Chao Phraya River, in the Yan Nawa district of Bangkok, Wat Pariwat Ratchasongkhram traces its origins to the late eighteenth century, during the transition from the Ayutthaya period to the early Rattanakosin era. Originally a small temple, it was restored in 1850 but, 145 years later, disaster struck, as Phra Khru Palad Boonruang Punyawaro, assistant abbot of Wat Pariwat, explains: “In 1995, floods submerged the temple so deeply you could swim in it, forcing us to demolish everything. To ensure the community’s donations wouldn’t be wasted, the abbot Phra Ratch Phattanakon decided to rebuild the ordination hall as a work of art, because art never dies.”
Assistant abbot Phra Khru Palad Boonruang Punyawaro standing in the ubosot, with the main Buddha and Phra Kan behind him
By STEPHEN LORRIMAN
This is an article extract; read the full article in Raw Vision 128.
