Wat Pho, Buddhist temple in Phra Nakhon District, Thailand.
Wat Pho is a first-class royal temple in the historic quarter of Bangkok, spreading across several hectares and separated from the city bustle by high white walls. The compound consists of two main sections with multiple prayer halls, galleries holding hundreds of Buddha statues, and gardens featuring Chinese stone figures between the pavilions.
King Rama I built the temple starting in 1788 on the site of an older monastery and brought Buddha figures from abandoned temples across the kingdom here. His successor expanded the compound in the early 19th century and added the reclining Buddha figure along with the collection of medical inscriptions.
The name comes from an Indian monastery and means
The entrance sits near the ferry pier on the Chao Phraya River, and visitors should cover shoulders and knees to enter the prayer halls. The grounds are extensive and require at least two hours to explore, best done early in the morning or late afternoon when the heat eases.
The temple grounds house one of Thailand's oldest massage schools, where visitors can receive traditional treatments based on centuries-old techniques. The diagrams carved into the walls show pressure points and healing methods that once served to train monks and the public.
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