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Temple Trails
KEITH MUNDY INTRODUCES HIS TOP TEN TEMPLE CHOICES ON THE BANGKOK AIRWAYS’ ROUTE MAP
TEMPLES are the great sightseeing highlights of the South-East and East Asian region, which boasts a wealth of architectural wonders inspired by faith – whether Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Muslim or Shinto. e following selections rate among the greatest treasures of the Far East and are all just a short fl ight away.
WAT PHRA KEAW (THE TEMPLE OF THE EMERALD BUDDHA)
The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, a great royal temple which is attached to Bangkok’s Grand Palace, is the most sacred religious sanctuary in ailand and the pride of the nation.
A complex of overwhelming brilliance in colours, forms and textures showcasing a kaleidoscope of architectural and decorative imagination, Wat Phra Keaw is also the supreme representative of ai style.
Although founded only two centuries ago, shortly after Bangkok itself, the temple is an outstanding historical and architectural sight, unrivalled in the richness of its creation and awe-inspiring sight of oriental splendour. If you see only one thing in Bangkok, or indeed in all ailand, this must be it.
WAT SI CHUM
Founded in 1238, Sukhothai was the fi rst independent ai kingdom and is regarded by ais as the foundation of their nation.
Sukhothai Historical Park now contains the remains of the city, in the form of temple ruins scattered over a large grassy landscape, graced with ponds and lakes.
Amongst these ruins, there is one that catches the eye of every visitor. rough a gap in a tall brick-walled enclosure, there appears a huge seated Buddha image almost 15 metres high.
Coated in stucco and called Phra Achana, the colossal image is the main feature of Wat Si Chum (Si Chum Temple).
WAT PHRA THAT DOI SUTHEP
Chiang Mai, principal city of north ailand, is renowned for its ancient temples, evoking a bygone age. Chief amongst them is an exquisite monastery which perches on the great hill overlooking the city, Doi Suthep (Suthep Mountain).
After driving up a winding road, the approach is via 300 steps fl anked by naga serpent balustrades. Inside the cloistered upper terrace is a dazzling array of red, green and gold colour in the forms of carved wood, filigree, and gold plating.
The centrepiece is a gleaming golden chedi (solid spire) dating from the 16th century, surrounded by golden umbrellas.
BIG BUDDHA TEMPLE (WAT PHRA YAI)
Koh Samui is a tropical island endowed with beautiful beaches. Formerly home to a fi shing and coconut-growing community, it is now one of ailand’s premier holiday destinations.
In 1972, its principal religious site was developed to cater to Buddhist visitors. What it lacks in age, it makes up for in size.
The location is also impressive – an islet off the island’s northeast coast which is reached by a causeway. A wide staircase fl anked by naga serpent balustrades leads up to the seated Big Buddha, 12 metres tall and painted gold – certainly Koh Samui’s most prominent landmark.
TEMPLE OF THE GOLDEN CITY (WAT XIENG THONG)
Once the capital of Lane Xang, the Kingdom of a Million Elephants, Luang Prabang is the old royal city of Laos. e peaceful town beside the Mekong is blessed with the country’s fi nest old Buddhist temples. Chief amongst them is Wat Xieng ong, the Temple of the Golden City.
This former royal monastery is a complex of graceful wooden structures. e main chapel is in the classic Luang Prabang style with its elegantly curved roof sweeping low to nearly ground level. Mosaic-patterned and gold-stencilled walls give further distinction to an exquisite place.
SHWEDAGON PAGODA
Shwedagon Pagoda caps a hill overlooking Yangon, with its 98m-tall glistening gold stupa casting a spell over the city. Believed to have been founded in Buddha’s lifetime or shortly therea" er, the pagoda has been continually embellished throughout the ages, creating a rich complex of multiple structures with a fabulously ornate heart.
The stupa is plated with 60 tonnes of gold and its tip is set with thousands of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and other gems, including 1,065 golden and silver bells and a 76-carat diamond at the very top.
Surrounding the pagoda are a multitude of smaller shrines housing pre-Buddhist spirits called nats and miracle-working images. An astonishing ensemble.
THE TEMPLE OF THE SOUL’S RETREAT (LINGYIN SI)
Hangzhou was once the greatest and most beautiful city in China, capital of the Southern Sung Dynasty. Now a large modern city, it retains one of China’s most revered, most extensive and most ancient temples, founded in 326 AD in nearby bamboo-clad hills.
The Temple of the Soul’s Retreat is composed of a series of voluminous worship halls, upheld by enormous wooden pillars and containing gigantic Buddha images. the most dazzling image is an 18m-high statue of a seated golden Sakyamuni, carved from 24 massive pieces of camphor wood.
ANGKOR WAT
Nearby present-day Siem Reap, Angkor was the great capital city of the ancient Khmers who ruled Cambodia and much of Indochina from the 9th to 15th centuries.
The Khmers’ Hindu-derived culture produced the most astonishing array of stone-built temples, which spread over a vast area of about 400 square kilometres.
One temple reigns supreme – Angkor Wat, an architectural masterpiece of enormous extent and matchless conception, culminating in a lo7 y fi ve-towered sanctuary which represents Mount Meru, the Hindu centre of the universe.
The largest temple ever known, Angkor Wat has a perfection in its composition, proportions and sculpture that truly makes it one of the fi nest monuments in the world.
ITSUKUSHIMA SHRINE
One of Japan’s great icons is a mysterious wooden archway standing in the sea, its great lintel curving upwards at each end. This is the torii gate of the Itsukushima Shrine, a holy place of Shintoism.
The present shrine dates from the 13th century and the harmoniously arranged buildings reveal great artistic and technical skill. The shrine plays on the contrasts in colour and form between mountains and sea, and illustrates the Japanese concept of scenic beauty, which combines nature and human creativity.
The torii acts as the gateway between the physical and spiritual worlds.
SULTAN MOSQUE
Singapore is a multi-racial society in which many religions are practised, giving it one of the most diverse collections of religious buildings of any city in the world.
Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Taoism, Christianity, Judaism all have their great temples. One of the most distinctive buildings is the chief worshipping place of the Muslim community, Sultan Mosque, built in the 1920s.
In the former Malay Federation under British colonial control, mosque-building became strongly infl uenced by India’s late Mughal style. Sultan Mosque is Singapore’s foremost example, capped with onion domes, arched cupolas and balconied minarets in an exotic hybrid style which is colourfully called “Indo-Saracenic”.
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