Wat Ratchabophit (วัดราชบพิธ)

Name of a Buddhist temple, just off Rattanakosin Island in Bangkok, located along the north-south canal that runs parallel with the Eastside of Suan Saran Rom, the palace garden or park in Phra Nakhon. This royal temple, built during the reign of King Rama V, is famed for its western-styled Bobby-like door guards, as well as for its unique circular courtyard that surrounds a gilded chedi (fig.). It is said to be an imitation of the Phra Pathom Chedi (fig.) and Wat Ratchapradit (fig.). The circular courtyard is walled and reminds of the Echo Wall that surrounds the Imperial Vault of Heaven at Tian Tan, i.e. the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, where the circular form represents heaven. Eight stone columns, the top of which have been carved into a dhammachakka, are placed at the eight points of the boundary walls. The section at the western entrance contains a royal burial ground, that consists of numerous mausoleums, and monuments built in dedication to the deceased consorts and children of King Chulalongkorn (fig.), as well as other and later members of the royal family. This monarch had the Phra Angkhirot Buddha statue (fig.), housed inside (fig.) the temple's ubosot (fig.) and cast under the royal initiative of his predecessor King Rama IV, plated with eight layers of gold, which made the statue shine with so much splendor, that it was given the name Angkhirot, i.e. ‘having a ray of light emanating from the body’. Also transcribed Wat Rachabopit and officially known by its full name Wat Ratchabophit Sathit Maha Simaram Rachawora Maha Wihaan (วัดราชบพิธสถิตมหาสีมารามราชวรวิหาร). See also POSTAGE STAMPS (1) and (2), WATCH VIDEO, and MAP. 回