Temples of  Thailand - a photographic journey

Bangkok Area      Provinces: Central    North    North-East   West   South  East

The Ancient Civilization of Sukhothai

Wat Mahathat

This was once a huge temple, which covered 4 ha, or 10 acres and was surrounded by 200 chedis and many other buildings. According to the Theravada Buddhist believe, every major city should have a Wat Mahathat in it's center to enshrine Buddha's relics.  It is also the temple where most tourists are dropped off first. Unfortunately we keep seeing tourists, which show the utmost disrespect when visiting this site, like sitting on the Buddha images or walking around with their shirts off. The original image in the viharn luang, which is the picture above, was Phra Sri Sakayamuni and is now enshrined in Wat Suthat in Bangkok.

One temple back    One temple forward