Nonthaburi

Time for one last Walking Adventure before flying home for the holidays! This weekend, our group met up at the central pier in Bangkok, and took the river boat all the way to the end of the line in Nonthaburi Province, north of Bangkok.

Nonthaburi Provincial Hall

Nonthaburi is the province just north of Bangkok, and one of the major provinces of the central region. Especially now that the MRT Purple Line reaches into Nonthaburi, it's more or less considered to be just a part of Bangkok.

the old Provincial Hall

The Provincial Hall is a gorgeous old building built entirely of faded teak wood. Today, it contains a museum about the history and culture of Nonthaburi Province.

the building is all made out of teak wood

Nonthaburi is fairly unique in that it has a distinct Mon cultural influence. This is reflected in the popular shadow puppet arts (as seen a few weeks ago at the Shadow Puppet National Museum) and in the famous Mon pottery which the province produces.

a shadow puppet

Even the Provincial Seal depicts an example of Mon pottery, proving just how important this craft is to the economy and culture of the province.

the provincial seal depicts Mon pottery

Wat Mangkorn 2

Leaving the Provincial Hall, we took a bus, the MRT, and a songtaew deeper into the city to Wat Mangkorn 2. This huge and awe-inspiring Chinese temple is the second branch of the historic Chinatown temple, Wat Mangkorn.

the second branch of Wat Mangkorn Temple

Wat Mangkorn is different than most temples in Thailand. While Thailand is overwhelmingly Theravada Buddhist (the older and more orthodox sect, heavily influenced by Hinduism), Wat Mangkorn is one of the very few Mahayana Buddhist (the new, Chinese-influenced Buddhism that is more well-known in the West) temples.

the Laughing Buddha

Wat Mangkorn itself is very important to the Chinese-Thai population in Thailand, but Wat Mangkorn 2 is by far the biggest and most spectacular Chinese temple ever built in the kingdom. It is the most significant example of Mahayana Buddhism in all of the country.

paper for rituals

The temple took over a decade to complete, and expansions are continually ongoing. It was originally constructed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the late King Rama IX's ascension to the throne.

the main temple hall

Today, Wat Mangkorn 2 is also home to a school for novice monks, as well as a dormitory for the young men to stay in while studying at the temple's school. When we visited, we passed some of the classrooms, where orange-robed boys were chatting and laughing, just like normal kids would.

the temple's abbot and temple hall interior

The temple's architecture is said to have taken inspiration from the Forbidden City in Beijing, and people who know what they are talking about (certainly not me!) say that the temple can rival even the most stunning temples in China.

beautiful and colorful ceiling at the temple

The main temple hall featured three gigantic golden Buddha statues sitting side by side. Each sat serenely in a golden robe, and each held an object in his hands. One held a golden globe which looked something like a lotus blossom. One held a crystal sphere. The third held a miniature pagoda. I'm not sure what that represents.

a trip of golden Buddha statues

We had about an hour to explore the temple's grounds. Each time I though I had seen everything, the temple opened up further, revealing even more impressive halls and shrines.

images from the temple complex

This is one of the biggest temples I've ever seen! In fact, I couldn't even fit he main temple hall in a photograph without using the panoramic mode on my phone's camera!

the sprawling temple complex

Even the ceiling was tiled in brightly-colored Buddhist motifs.

brightly colored temple ceiling

It was certainly one of the most colorful temples that I've seen. While most Thai temples tend to be shades of gold and orange, and most Chinese temples tend to feature reds and golds, this temple was decorated in nearly every color of the rainbow - bright blues, greens, yellows, reds...

Wat Mangkorn 2 Temple

Downstairs, a room was lit up in the bright warm glow of hundreds of red Chinese paper lanterns. A dozen or so wooden statues stood around the room.

reclining Guanyin

It took a long time to get to the temple, but it was worth the trip. Not knowing at all what to expect when we got there, I think it's safe to say that everyone on the tour was blown away by what we saw!

bright red lanterns

Wat Laharn

After lunch, we crossed the road and made our way to the nearby Wat Laharn. In contrast to Wat Mangkorn 2, Wat Laharn is a beautiful example of a very typical Thai-style temple.

a quiet temple in Nonthaburi Province

 The temple dates back over a hundred years, and is a training temple where monks gather during the Buddhist Lent to study the Dharma (Buddhist teachings/scriptures). When we were there, the temple was preparing for Loi Krathong. It even looked like they were setting up some sort of temple fair, like the one that I went to last week!

Buddha statue and temple hall

It was a hot day in Nonthaburi, and when we finished exploring the temple, we were exhausted. I'm not sure how far we walked, but this particular walking adventure took us all over Nonthaburi!

Buddha images at the temple

It was the day before my flight out of Thailand, and I was really glad to have something fun to do. I'm also glad to have a little exercise and fresh air before sitting on the plane for 24+ hours!

The next time I post on this blog, I'll be writing from the USA!

walking tour group