Wat Boromaracha Kanchana Phisek Anuson (วัดบรมราชากาญจนาภิเษกอนุสรณ์)

Thai. Name of the largest Chinese Buddhist temple in Thailand. It is situated in the amphur Bua Thong, which means ‘Golden Lotus’, in Nonthaburi province, on a 12 rai plot of land. It was built to celebrate the King's 50th anniversary on the throne, in 1996, but was officially inaugurated on 20 March 2008, in presence of the his majesty Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn (fig.). It consists of an ubosot, two vihaan-buildings of which one has two floors, a drum tower, a belfry with a bell weighing 7 ton made in China and decorated with Chinese characters, living and study quarters, and several smaller, undisclosed and non-descript buildings. The Phra prathaan inside the ubosot comprises three large Buddha images, i.e. the historical Sakyamuni Buddha flanked by two buddhas from the past, namely the Amitabha buddha to the left and the Bhaisajyaguru buddha to the right (fig.). The interior of one of its buildings is decorated with golden lotus flower with in its centre, where the seeds are located, the Sakyamuni Buddha, surrounded by eight Lokapalas of Mahayana Buddhism (fig.) and, as is common in most larger Chinese temples, hundreds, if not thousands of small Buddha images (fig.), said to represent the words spoken by the Buddha and each one believed to radiate a fraction of the his energy. Also known as Wat Leng Noei Yi 2. See also TRAVEL PICTURES (1) and (2), and MAP. 回