The Monarchy
Photographs of King Rama X are prominent throughout the country. Kingship of a unified Siam/Thailand was created in 1238 by the founder of the Kingdom of Sukhothai and continued as an absolute monarchy until 1932 when a constitution was granted.
The current dynasty was founded in 1782 when an Ayutthaya military leader seized power and moved the capital across the river from Thonburi to Bangkok, taking with him the sacred Emerald Buddha. All Kings of the Chakri Dynasty take the name Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu. Based on estimates from 2019, Rama X is the wealthiest monarch in the world in terms of personal net worth, not including assets of the state, the government, or the crown as an institution, easily outdistancing the Sultan of Brunei ($43 billion vs. $28 billion). To criticize the monarchy remains a serious criminal offense. The Grand Palace is the official seat of the Royal House, although the King’s official residence is elsewhere. His father, Rama IX was especially popular with the people during his long reign.
The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
Once inside the walls of the Grand Palace, it’s clear it’s a city, a world, in and of itself. Inside the inside is the holiest of Buddhist temples in the country, Wat Phra Kaew, although one with no resident monks. It is where the Emerald Buddha resides. We, however, had little idea of what we were seeing as we moved along with the masses of visitors on a Sunday morning.
But, here we are at the Bot, the sacred building constructed for the Emerald Buddha. Legend has it that in Chiang Rai in the north of Siam in a temple also called Wat Phra Kaew lightening struck a chedi or stupa (a structure housing relics) one night in 1434 to reveal an image rendered in stucco which the abbot took into his residence. Much like what happened with the Golden Buddha more than 500 years later, the stucco flaked off to reveal an image of Buddha carved in jasper. It fell into Royal hands when the King of Chiang Mai sent his elephants to retrieve it.
Photographs are not permitted inside the Bot, but these images of the 26” tall Buddha dressed in costumes according to season are made available by the Palace. It is one of the duties of the King to personally ascend to the very high place above, in the large room where the Emerald Buddha presides, to change its costumes.
Wat Pho and the Reclining Buddha
Next door to the Grand Palace, Wat Pho is Bangkok’s oldest and largest temple and currently a center of traditional medicine housing the most respected massage school in the city. When he moved his capital to Bangkok, Rama I rebuilt the 16th century temple and enlarged it.
The King brought with him Buddha images from what could be salvaged of the prior sacked and now abandoned Siamese capitals at Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, so that the temple now has over 1,000 Buddha statues.
What brings people to Wat Pho, however, is the imposing gilded 150’ long plaster and brick Reclining Buddha, in its own chapel within the Wat, built by Rama III in 1832.