WAT ARUN (TEMPLE OF DAWN)

Wat Arunratchawararam Ratchaworamahavihara, Wat Arun more simply, is so called in honour of the Hindu goddess Aruna, goddess of the Dawn. Built during the Ayutthaya period, King Tasksin enlarged a small temple that occupied the site, and Rama II and then Rama III amplified it. The main prang, which is 82 m high, is decorated with porcelain fragments and about a hundred statues of demons that protect it, and at its top can be seen the seven-branched trident of Shiva. Around the main prang, four other smaller ones shelter deities on horseback, the Nayu. Below, statues of lions and Chinese soldiers stand guard. The roofs of the Wat are decorated with kinarias, female birds, with their hands joined in a position of meditation. On the banks of the river are 6 small Chinese pavilions, housing representations of Buddha during different episodes of his life. But more than the visit itself, quite fast, it is the sunset on this temple that deserves a look. To do this, you can sit at the end of the day on the opposite bank of Chao Phraya, and wait until the prang is illuminated. Wat Arun, also known as the Temple of the Dawn, after three long years of restoration entrusted to the direction of the Thai Department of Fine Arts of Consolidation, was restored to its former glory in 2018. One of the most emblematic monuments in Thailand.