Thailand: Bangkok - A city of contrasts, First stop

The rain season has finished here in Bangkok, and, for the most part, the skies are blue, the days are less humid and the evenings are pleasantly warm........

Here are my latest "impressions" of this great metropolis -


My first stop is to Wat Rakhang in Thon Buri, set beside the Chao Phraya  River almost facing the Grand Palace.
The Temple dates from the time  Ayutthaya was capital of Siam but was significantly rebuilt during the reign of King Rama I in the 18th century. I have come, not so much to see the temple, but to seek out a small garden within its confines. Set in this shaded and tranquil plot is a "Ho Trai" or scripture house that has great significance. This elegant wooden pavilion, set on wooden stilts and covered in light red paint once formed part of the home of King Rama I before he was crowned. The building later being donated to the temple and converted into a place to hold the buddhist scriptures. 

The charming exterior of the "Ho Trai"

Window deatil

Detail of delicately carved and painted porch arch

The Ho Trai is divided into three sections; a retiring room, the central room and a study come reading room.  As I pass through the front door into the central chamber, I am faced with a huge 

portrait of King Rama I.

Portrait of King Rama I

Monks and Lay persons alike come here to prey

for the King

To the right is the Reading Room containing a wooden cabinet covered in

gold and black lacquer that houses part of the temple's  Buddhist scriptures

To the left is the Retiring Room, dominated again with 

a wooden scripture cabinet covered in gold and black lacquer 

 

Detail of window shutter

 

Close-up of cabinet

In all three rooms murals covered the walls. These were painted during the reign of King Rama I by Phra Achan Nak. This celebrated monk come artist used tempera mixed with latex for the murals. These natural substances yield few shades and gave little brightness to the paintings. At the time Siam was recovering from war, so imported paints from China and India were hard to come by. However, the results give them a feel and age of something much older.......