Thailand's current series of baht coins feature the royal monogram of His Majesty King Rama X in celebration of his relatively recent ascension to the throne and coronation. The most previous set of coins, however, each featured a different important Buddhist temple on the reverse. Each of the baht coin's temples are among the most famous in the kingdom, and all are located in Bangkok. For today's art history post, I'd like to take you on a little tour of four of Bangkok's most spectacular temples as told through the engravings on the reverse of the 1, 2, 5, and 10 Thai baht coins.
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1 baht: Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha at the Grand Palace)
The 1 baht coin features the most important temple in all of Thailand: Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which is located within Bangkok's Grand Palace compound. The temple is the only royal temple of "special class", of the highest prominence, higher even than the handful of first-grade royal temples!
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| 1 baht - Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) |
The temple is the home to the legendary Emerald Buddha, the sacred royal palladium of the Kingdom of Thailand, and an object believed to be of great power. Wat Phra Kaew is considered to be the holiest site in all of Thai Buddhism.
Legend says that whichever country possesses the sacred Emerald Buddha can never be conquered by a foreign nation, and to this day, Thailand remains the only Southeast Asian nation never to have been colonized by a European power.
The Emerald Buddha has a fascinating history, an inextricable web of myth and truth, and it deserves a post all of its own (which I'm working on now!). It's funny, I've visited the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew a ton of times, usually when I have visitors in Bangkok, and yet I've never given it its own dedicated post!
Wat Phra Kaew is a fantastically dense collection of art and history, and it takes many trips to fully appreciate all that it has to offer.
2 baht: Wat Saket (Temple of the Golden Mount)
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| 2 baht - Wat Saket (The Golden Mount) |
Wat Saket dates back to the Ayutthaya Period, when it was known as Wat Sakae. During the reign of King Rama III, a massive chedi was built at the temple, but the soft marshlike ground of Bangkok gave way, causing the giant chedi to collapse into a pile of rubble. Eventually, the ruins became overgrown with plants and weeds, resembling a natural hill which the locals called "phu khao"
King Rama IV constructed a much smaller chedi atop the artificial hill, and his son, King Rama V brought a holy relic of the Buddha from Sri Lanka to enshrine atop what was by then known as "phu khao tong", the "Golden Mount", said to resemble Mount Meru, the metaphysical holy mountain of Hindu-Buddhist-Jain cosmology.
The Golden Mount is one of my absolute favorite spots in the city. To reach the "peak", you have to climb a winding staircase through a sort of lush jungle, ringing bells along the way. When you arrive at the top, the cool breeze and wonderful views across all of Bangkok are unparalleled!
5 baht: Wat Benchamabophit (The Marble Temple)
Wat Benchamabophit (more commonly called "Wat Bencha") is the Marble Temple, the quintessential landmark of Bangkok-style Buddhist temple architecture. Located in the royal Dusit neighborhood, and constructed under the orders of King Rama V in 1999, the temple is built out of imported Italian marble and features some very rare Buddhist stained glass.
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| 5 baht - Wat Benchamabophit (Marble Temple) |
The Marble Temple is such a beautiful temple that it often appears on the cover of travel guidebooks to Thailand. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens and fish ponds, and houses some of the most historically significant Buddha images in the kingdom.
10 baht: Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn)
The 10 baht coin features Wat Arun, one of the most iconic symbols of Bangkok. Though the name means "Temple of the Dawn" (Aruna is the Hindu god of the sun), it is most beautiful at sunset, as it sits on the western (Thonburi) side of the river.
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| 10 baht - Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) |
Though dating back to the 17th century, the temple's most famous feature, the Khmer-style prang which points to the sky, wasn't added until the reign of King Rama III in the early 19th century.
When I first arrived in Bangkok, the temple was a dull grey. I assumed that this was its natural color and that it was built out of a grey stone. However, a few years ago, the temple underwent a massive year-long restoration, and when it was unveiled after a good scrubbing, two centuries of grime had been removed, revealing a glorious white temple!
Wat Arun is interesting in that it is covered in broken shards of beautiful ceramic pottery. During the era of King Rama III, many merchant ships sailed into Siam from China. Rama III was particularly interested in Chinese art and designed several temples in a Chinese style. When the ships arrived after a rough ocean voyage, sometimes their wares were shattered and unable to be sold. Hating to see them go to waste, the king decided to use the broken pottery as decoration on the outside of Wat Arun!
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