Wat Pho
Bangkok's temple of the great reclining Buddha, a royal monastery south of the Grand Palace and a centre of Thai learning and traditional medicine.
A temple that was also meant to be a university
Wat Pho, officially Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan, is a first-grade royal monastery on Rattanakosin Island, just south of the Grand Palace. It is older than Bangkok as a capital: the temple, then called Wat Phodharam, dates to the Ayutthaya era. Rama I had it restored from 1788, it received its name in 1801, and it became his principal temple. Some of his ashes are said, on the temple's own history page, to lie beneath the pedestal of the principal Buddha image in the main chapel. The great restoration came during the reign of Rama III, when the south and west viharas were extended; the temple's history page places the large reclining Buddha in that part of the compound. The site covers about 20 acres. The monastery was conceived as more than a place of worship, as a centre of Thai arts and learning, and that purpose is still visible on the ground. The stone inscriptions and illustrations placed around the grounds work as a kind of public encyclopedia, and were registered by UNESCO as the Epigraphic Archives of Wat Pho in its Memory of the World Register in 2011. The temple is also regarded as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage and houses a school of traditional Thai medicine; Thai massage appears on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. So a visit here can be about three different things: the monumental Buddha, the architecture of four royal chedis, and the history of Thai learning carved in stone.
Explore Wat Pho on the map
City locations, drawn from our published destination data. Attractions, hotels and restaurants are not mapped yet.
What to see
A large compound with a few headline sights and a lot of detail in between.
The reclining Buddha
- The image is about 46 metres long and 15 metres high, an early Bangkok-period figure of brick and stucco, lacquered and gilded, housed in a hall extended during the reign of Rama III.
- The soles of the feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and the temple's own page connects them with the tradition of the 108 auspicious symbols of the Buddha's footprint.
Chedis and halls
- Four large chedis, each about 42 metres high, honour the first four kings of the Chakri dynasty, with dozens of smaller chedis across the grounds.
- Phra Ubosot, the ordination hall and the most sacred building in the compound. Its teak doors are inlaid with mother-of-pearl scenes from the Ramayana.
Learning and medicine
- The inscribed stone panels and illustrations set around the grounds, registered by UNESCO as the Epigraphic Archives of Wat Pho in 2011.
- The school of traditional Thai medicine, which also offers massage.
Getting there
Wat Pho is in the old royal quarter, next to the Grand Palace.
Where it is
- It stands in Phra Nakhon district on Rattanakosin Island, immediately south of the Grand Palace.
- Wat Arun is on the opposite bank of the Chao Phraya, almost directly across from Wat Pho.
What nobody tells you
A few things that make the compound make sense.
Good to know
- The compound's older name, Wat Phodharam, is why you may see 'Wat Pho' and the long official name used for the same place.
- The massage school and the temple's educational history are connected: the grounds were designed as a place to teach, not only to worship.
- The temple's own English pages have given different opening arrangements in the past, so treat any single figure quoted elsewhere with caution.
Close by
The old royal quarter and the river.
Frequently asked
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