There are many Buddhist temples in Thailand of which the Phra Pathom Chedi is a very special one.
The Wat Phra Pathom Chedi is situated in the Nakhon Pathom province. The temple is best visited with a driver or local friend, as it’s around 50 km away from the center of Bangkok.
Phra Pathom Chedi is the oldest Buddhist sturcture in Thailand and the ledgend tells us that Buddhism was first introduced to Thailand in this very place. Archeologists claim that some of the carvings found at this site date all the way back to the 3rd century BC.
The chedi is 120 meters high which makes it the tallest chedi in the world. The original chedi was modelled by a similar one in India and was much smaller. It cannot be seen any longer as it is inside the new chedi.
We happened to visit on Asahna Bucha Day, and thus the area was very busy. Asahna Bucha Day commemorates Buddha’s first sermon in India back in the day.
The Phra Ruang Rodjanarith standing Buddha. The hand sign means “no fear”.
Apparently, you can buy one of these bells and pull it up to the top of the chedi. Someone will then collect it an hang it on the celing. Unfortunatey I only heard of this later on and did not catch a glimpse of the bells.
It is interesting to know that this chedi was actually once abandoned and covered in jungle.
We saw locals buying these for making merit. If you are familiar with this and know more, please enlighten me and other readers in the comments below.
A special sermon is made on this day involving incense sticks, candles and lotus flowers.
I would love to see this chedi in November when The Temple Festival is hosted here. The chedi is then surrounded by street food vendors and thousands of people gather together.
We also saw groups of schoolchildren taking part in the religious activities.
All in all, it was a lovely visit. I have heard that when it’s not a Buddhist Holiday, this temple is very peaceful. I am sure you will not bump into too many tourists here either, even though this is a historically important chedi – shows you that sometimes it’s worth making the extra effort and getting off the tourist track.
Have you ever been to a Buddhist temple?
xx
The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi 
What an amazing trip! Wonderful pictures.
xo
Chels
http://www.thefirst365days.com
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Thank you so much Chels, I appreciate your visit 😀
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There’s something so peaceful about Buddhist temples. Really enjoyed your post 😀
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Thank you Jutismita! I miss Bangkok ❤
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I lived 15 minutes away from Phra Pathom Chedi when I lived and taught in Thailand! I was so excited to see this post pop up in my reader–It’s a gorgeous and culturally and historically significant structure, yet it’s off the beaten tourist path (which is perhaps a good thing) so not many people make it here on a visit to Thailand. The citizens of Nakhon Pathom actually rejected a proposal for the Chedi Wat to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site a few years back, out of concern that an influx in tourism would disturb local industry. Unfortunately, I did not make it to the Chedi Wat in November during Loy Krathong (something I actually regret, as I was so close to it), but I heard from friends that the stupa was lit up and completely gorgeous. I did, however, visit on a regular day and it was quite a lovely and very peaceful experience.
These pictures are gorgeous, Suvi. Thanks so much for sharing. Made me a bit homesick for my Thailand home, but it also brought back good memories of my time there. 🙂
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Wow, thank you so much for sharing, how cool that you’re familiar with this Chedi! Amazing. I would love to be in Thailand for the Loy Krathong festival, it sounds magical, exactly how your friends described it. xx
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I experienced Loy Krathong in the small town I lived in east of Nakhon Pathom city–an AMAZING experience, but still would have liked to see the Chedi Wat during the holiday. I would recommend making a trip to Thailand around Loy Krathong if you ever have the chance. It’s fantastic.
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Ooh sounds good to me 😀
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If we should have more time in Bangkok on a future visit I’ll look into visiting here as it looks so interesting. We’ve been fortunate to have visited many Buddhist temples in Asia -there’s so much to take in and look at. Don’t know anything about creating ‘merits’ though!
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I think maybe it’s a good idea to have a local to help you with the merits 😛 I am truly missing BKK at the moment!
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