Wat Phra Sri Mahathat - The Temple of the Sacred Relic

There is a new extension to the Skytrain's green line that runs north of where I live towards Don Mueang Airport. The current terminal station is called Wat Phra Sri Mahathat, and is named for a temple I had never visited in a part of town I had never seen.

The sky was dark and gloomy when we arrived at the end of the line - typical for the monsoon season.

Here, though just a few kilometres from where I live, the city was much less dense and much more green.

Just outside of the temple grounds and surrounded by a lush lotus pond is the spaceship-like campus of a Buddhist university. Here, monks from all across the kingdom can receive theological academic education.

A royal temple of the first class, Wat Phra Sri Mahathat was originally meant to be called Wat Prachathipatai, the Temple of Democracy. Started in 1932, it was the first temple to be built by the state following the Siamese Revolution which ended the absolute monarchy and introduced democracy to Siam.

In 1940, an envoy to British India brought back a Buddhist relic and three branches of the sacred Bodhi tree at Mahabodi Temple. The relics were enshrined at the temple, which was renamed Wat Phra Sri Mahathat, the Temple of the Sacred Relics.

The relics are enshrined within the great chedi, in a reliquary surrounded by various Buddha images.

Like most royal-grade temples, people come from across Thailand to pray before the relic. Now that the skytrain line reaches all the way to the temple, it is becoming more popular to visit.

There was a small pond at the temple, and a tiny island reached by a bridge. 

On the island was a small Buddhist shrine and an area where I suppose people could sit and meditate.

It was a little scary to cross to it though... there were just too many pigeons! I guess people must feed them, because they began hurrying to the island when they saw me there!