Wat Pathum Wanaram, Buddhist temple in Pathum Wan district, Bangkok, Thailand.
Wat Pathum Wanaram is a Buddhist temple in Pathum Wan district, Bangkok, with golden spires and white walls rising above the treetops. Inside the courtyard stand buildings with tiled roofs around a paved square with flower bowls and prayer flags.
The king founded the temple in the mid-19th century near his lotus ponds as a place for meditation and teaching. Over the following decades the city grew around the grounds and transformed the rural area into a busy center.
The name means Temple of the Lotus and refers to the royal gardens that once grew here. Today people from nearby offices come for midday prayers or light incense at the shrines.
You enter the grounds through a gate on the street and then walk across the courtyard to the individual halls. Before entering the prayer rooms remove your shoes and make sure clothing is covered.
The monks live in wooden houses behind the main buildings and you hear morning bells ringing through the shopping district. A small pond beside the entrance recalls the royal water gardens that gave the place its name.
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