Ravi Putcha
Wats of Thailand
Architecture, the external space
is an extension of
spirituality, the internal space
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I am neither an architect nor a spiritual guru. This is not a detailed, authoritative treatise on either topics. I am an artist, I capture in images what I see (blissfully ignore what's not visible and what I can't see), tell my own story, my impressions and thoughts about the images I captured. Two very prominent things I noticed as would you in wats of Thailand are colors (use of gold as a predominant color) and shapes (pointed eaves and dragon/peacock motifs).
Gold
You can't miss it, gold is the color of choice, metal of choice too, gold here, gold there, gold on stupas, gold on the eaves, gold on the buddha, gold on coins, gold on spires, dragons, monk's bowls...gold is everywhere. Gold is the sign of reverence to Buddha, gold is a means to flaunt wealth, power, prestige, influence. Gold is a promise to the poor - you pray and abide by the teachings of Buddha and gold is what you get - an inherent promise. Every one wants, loves, seeks gold.
Spikes, Spires & Fires
Thorny spires, pointy eaves, fierce dragons raining down from the sky, jaws wide open, as if they are roaring or spitting fires, golden peacock heads on the roofs, even the peacocks' and dragons' tongues and combs are pointy, crown the king wears has a pointy spire on it. If you were to paradrop or skydive in Thailand, beware! There are so many of them everywhere that you will impale yourself on one of those.
Wat Arun
On a Grab bike ride, waiting forever for the signal to let us go, amid Bangkok traffic, thick as clay, while the hazy May sun was beating down mercilessly on naïve me, I ask myself why I chose to come here at this time of the year, just to save some money?
To avoid other tourists and tourist traps, I chose to visit only select landmarks and avoid the popular choices. The former is not possible (I sound like a dick, I know, how can I say that being a tourist myself?) but the latter is.
I don't want to check any stupid boxes, I don't have a bucket list - god that sounds so cliched and ridiculous. I don't want to see the whole world, I don't want to see everything in every country I visit - life is too short for that. I just pick some experiences that suit my temperament and move on, like you pick the stuff you need from a store and ignore the rest - you don't buy everything, because you don't need everything.
"100 baht, cash only!" the lady at the counter said.
100? Why pay to visit a temple?
She wasn't interested in my opinion. It was 9 in the morning, and she was already bored to death.
I paid, picked up the ticket and a squat bottle of water she placed on the counter.
Wat Arun looks similar to Konark temple in India. The Sun with chariot of 7 horses. Unlike old temples in India, wats in Thailand are built with mortar and adorned with intricate glazed pottery. Huge slabs of stone are best used near the quarry they come from. Hauling them all the way to Thailand from Rajasthan in India - just the sound of it sounds painful.
A thick wooden drumstick is wrapped thick in layers of dirty cloth, it's like a rubber mallet. When you hit the super thick brass gong with it you get a rich, super low bass vibration that tickles your ear drums and if you are my type, your spine as well - spine purrs.
An old man was selling lemons inside the wat - I didn't get it, there was no other vendor around, only this. Noticing my curiosity he cut a wedge out and let me taste it. I chewed the whole, rind and all. That's when I realized three others were watching me, they burst out laughing - chewing bitter things is not for everyone - however it is amusing to see others do it, or so it seems. For the whole culture hooked on sugar, putting bitter things in one's mouth is inconceivable, I get it. I bought some of those overpriced, ordinary tasting lemons. I used one later that day and carefully left the rest on the hostel's kitchen counter hoping someone else will find them useful and not discard them.
Many south east Asians have fluid spirituality - they can pray in any temple, any place of worship, to any deity, even the unfamiliar ones, they are not dogmatic about it. As long as a deity grants your wishes, just pray, practical and sensible!
A well nourished single mom and her daughters (in their 20s) were checking with me (each separately) what I was doing traveling alone with a camera that big. Curiosity is a good thing.
Wat Arun comes to life with enthusiastic men and women (local and Koreans especially) with a taste for traditional attire and accessories. In the backdrop of the ancient wat, that gives you a lot of eye candy. I can see that most are self conscious about it but I wish I could tell them how much I admire that taste and that they are making fellow travelers' day. I couldn't get enough of that eye candy.
The people who rent this stuff don't rent matching footwear however. People in traditional wear wear Nikes or high heels - an anachronistic eye sore - but then, you can't have it all, can you?
The comforting sound of clicking shutter was an antidote to hazy, hot, humid weather, thirst. I had my fill and it was time to get in somewhere with an AC.
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai
It was a day before Visakha Bucha, the day of birth and enlightenment of the Buddha. There can't be a better day to visit Wat Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai. It was made memorable by the traditional dance performance. I was there just in time.
Wat Pho
Till you see wats here, Theravada Buddhism is just another version of Buddhism. But compare this with Tibetan Buddhism, you will see they are poles apart. Spartan Tibetan Buddhist monasteries are a far cry from gold plated opulence of wats in Thailand. In Thailand, everything gold is considered divine, if not the gold metal, gold color in the least, it's everywhere, other colors exist to enhance, elevate, emphasize gold, it is a world of gold.
Sometimes it is just gold over dark gray, that's fierce!
It is not the reclining pose but the expression of Buddha that is noteworthy, the rest is all fluff, visually speaking. Those YouTubers, don't you trust their weed fueled hyper enthusiasm. Weed is not the issue here, but they don't know where to focus on and what to let go, they take it all in.
Wat
Bowonniwetwiharn
Ratchaworawiharn
That is a mouthful tongue twisting tsunami of syllables, don't try it at home!
A sprawling complex of wats, some old, some not, this is a temple of a thousand blessing Buddhas with two thousand hands blessing you.
Weather this hot and dreary is imagination numbing, you discount the beauty in front of you, or it was the wat?
Perhaps it was getting repetitive, perhaps wats are not built as tourist attractions, duh!
God! what was I doing there?
Wat Saket
A wat on a hill with no elevator can only draw younger folk. There are no Buddhas here, just a lone stupa and a lot of wind and sun. Watch the sunset with wind in your clothes.
People come to make offerings (are available on rent, they are recycled later), rub the gong, go around the stupa, kneel and make wishes. Some just sit and fall asleep as nice evening winds bring peace and quite. Some write their wishes on a red cloth and staple currency notes on a wire, some write them and the names of their beloved/lover on a metal heart that hangs from tiny bells.
Liberal, leftist version of spirituality?
Monk life is not free from platitudes that plague us, the ordinary folk. They'd have their own battles with their inner demons. What's for dinner? Why has the head monk been ignoring me? When will I get promoted as the head monk?
Ayutthaya
Fashioned after temples of Konark and Khajuraho in India but with wrong choice of materials, it is an utter failure of material and civil engineering - because temples created many centuries earlier in India are in great shape even today. Brick and mortar construction of structures, sculptures in Ayutthaya, is just plain wrong choice, nothing survived. There must be reasons why they did what they did but it didn't work.
The ancient wats of Ayutthaya are in utter ruin. It is a sad and depressing sight I didn't find them appealing - that's just me.