Wat Bowonniwet Wihaan Rachaworawihaan (วัดบวรนิเวศวิหารราชวรวิหาร)

Thai. ‘Royal Temple Hall and Glorious Abode’. Name of a temple in Bangkok's Phra Nakhon district, which was built in 1826, during the reign of King Rama III, by order of Somdet Phra Bowon Racha Chao Maha Sakdi Phonlasep (สมเด็จพระบวรราชเจ้ามหาศักดิพลเสพ), the twelfth son of King Rama I, who however, died before the building was completed. The temple is built in Thai-Chinese style. Uniquely and in contrast to most other temples, the bai sema of the ubosot are built-in on the outer wall of the bot (fig.), whereas these boundary markers around the ordination hall are usually built as free-standing structures. Inside the ubosot has murals of the artist Khrua In-Khohng (ขรัวอินโข่ง), who lived during the reigns of Rama III-IV, and was the first Thai painter to use perspective and techniques in murals, adapted from the West. The building houses two important Buddha images (fig.), i.e. Phra Suwannakhet (สุวรรณเขต), the Phra prathaan which was moved from Wat Sra Taphaan (วัดสระตะพาน) in Phetburi and Phra Phutta Chinasih (พระพุทธชินสีห์) which was taken from Wat Phra Sri Rattanamahathat in Phitsanulok. In the reign of King Rama IV a large chedi covered in gold-coloured tiles was erected and in the present reign a Chinese shrine and arch were added. In 1836, Prince bhikku Mongkut, who in 1824 ordained at age 20, arrived at this temple and became its first abbot and thus it became centre of the Thammayut Nikaya sect, founded by Prince Mongkut. Several members of the Royal House of Chakri ordained at this temple, including kings and future kings, such as Crown Prince Mongkutklao and Crown Prince Prajadhipok (fig.), and though King Chulalongkorn, already crowned King at age 15, ordained at the age of 20 phansa in Wat Phra Sri Rattana Sahtsadahrahm (fig.), after his ordination he went to stay at Wat Bowonniwet for 15 days. In 1956, King Rama IX stayed at this temple for 15 days after his ordination in Wat Phra Kaew, and in 1961 Somdet Phra Yannasangwon Somdet Phrasangkaraat Sagon Maha Sangkaparinayok, the Supreme Patriarch of the Buddhist Church, became the temple's abbot. Later, crown prince Vajiralongkorn, as well as several of King Bhumipon's grandchildren ordained at this monastery which up to present remains under royal patronage (fig.). The temple houses a Dhamma Museum and the Maha Makut (มหามกุฏ) Buddhist University, one of two public Buddhist universities in Thailand which was founded in 1893 by King Rama V, as an educational institute for the Buddhist clergy and in memory of King Mongkut. Also called and transcribed Wat Bovoranives Vihara Rajavihara, Wat Bovorn, Wat Bowonniwet and Wat Bowon, and formerly known as Wat Mai (วัดใหม่), i.e. the ‘New Temple’. See MAP, POSTAGE STAMPS, TRAVEL PICTURE (1) and (2), and WATCH VIDEO. 回