Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew)
- Address:Grand Palace, Banglamphu (Old City), Bangkok, Thailand
- Hours:Open daily from 8:30am - 3:30pm
- Admission:฿250. Price includes Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew, the Coin Pavilion & Vimanmek Palace in Dusit Park
- Transit:Chao Phraya Express Boat to Pier Tha Chang
Cultural Experience, Nature & Wildlife, Religious Experience, Tip - What to See & Do, Monument - Historical, Temple
3:33 AM Friday, May 25
Light rain. Mostly cloudy. Warm.
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Deep within the Grand Palace grounds you’ll find Thailand’s most sacred sight - the Emerald Buddha (Phra Kaew Morakot) contained within the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew). This temple is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in the country and is an essential palladium of Thai society.
Within its walls is the highly revered Buddha sculpture, carved from a single block of jade and dates from the 14th century AD. Believed to have been crafted in Sri Lanka, the Emerald Buddha was transported and revered throughout Southeast Asia before being brought back to Thailand from Laos in 1552. It has sat in its present shrine within the Grand Palace walls since 1784 and remains an important symbol of the Thai nation.
So revered is this Buddha image that no one but the King himself is allowed to touch it. Three times a year, to correspond with the changing of the Thai seasons, the King changes the Buddha's robes in an important ritual to ensure good fortune in the months ahead.
The Emerald Buddha is just over 2 ft (0.6 m) tall and sits in a magnificent shrine within the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The temple itself contains some of the finest examples of Buddhist sculpture, architecture and decorative craft in Thailand.
Visitors must not point their feet towards the Buddha and if you cannot comfortably sit on the floor without doing so you must remain standing. Those who fail to recognize this important observance face being ejected from the temple.
Our guide was wonderful...very knowledgeable and enthusiastic which added immensely to the trip.
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Fantastic tour of the temples with a very knowledgeable tour guide. He picked us up promptly and we travelled in a luxury air-conditioned mini bus. Was amazed and awe-struck by everything we saw on the tour and it was lovely that being a private tour it was just me and my family and we could adapt the tour to suit our own needs ie longer at some temples than others. Definitely would recommend .
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The tour company was really punctual in picking us up at the hotel and this was probably my favorite tour in Bangkok, the canals tour was great and the two temples we visited were spectacular. I will totally recommend it to a first time visitor of Bangkok. The only down side was that at times it was difficult to understand the tour guide’s English given his thick accent, never the less great tour.
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The Temple of the Emerald Buddha is in the Grand Palace complex in the Banglamphu area of Bangkok – also known as the Old City.
All visitors must adhere to a strict dress code upon entering the Grand Palace complex. Skin, including arms, lower legs and toes, should not be exposed and inappropriately dressed visitors will be ushered into a building near the front gate to rent suitable clothing.
As with most temples, shoes must be shed and pilgrims offering prayers should avoid proffering the soles of their feet in the direction of holy imagery while sitting.
