Video: An extravagant skyscraper temple with a dragon, which its creator dreamed of during meditation
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The Buddhist temple Wat Samphran in Thailand is very extravagant even for this country, because it is an 80-meter tower of bright pink color, entwined with a scaly dragon. Despite the fact that this building is located only fifty kilometers from Bangkok, this attraction is not very popular with tourists. But in vain. After all, it is incredibly beautiful here, besides, you can even climb up to the very belly of the dragon building.
There is no exact information about who became the author of this pink building in the town of Nakhon Pathom, which looks more like an art object of an amusement park than a temple. It is only known that such an unusual project was dreamed of by the Buddhist creator during the period when he meditated and starved for seven days. This architectural masterpiece was registered as an official temple in 1985.
The local population and a few tourists have got into the habit of calling this building the Temple of the Giant Dragon, and to get to it from the capital, it is enough to take a taxi and tell the driver these three cherished words.
The epithet "giant" was given to the dragon because the building that wraps around this mythical animal is really very large. Its height is 80 meters (supposedly this is due to the number of years the Buddha spent on Earth), and there are 17 floors in it. But if you get closer to the dragon's body, it becomes clear that it is incredibly huge.
By the way, this building is only part of the temple complex, which also includes the adjoining beautiful garden with interesting statues. In the main building - pink - not all floors are used (about half of them are empty or simply closed to visitors, since they contain rooms for the privacy of monks). But those that are open can be visited.
Tourists are also allowed to climb the stairs (the elevator almost always does not work) and enter the dragon body, which is located on one of the floors. However, since the inside of the dragon is not illuminated, this "tunnel" is not very interesting. It is much more exciting to look at the surroundings from a great height or admire the building itself from the side.
This place has its own signs for tourists. For example, you can touch the dragon's tail and make a wish, strike a gong, or throw a coin into a special pot (it is believed that this brings good luck).
After visiting the Temple of the Giant Dragon, you can feel the usual peace, which is facilitated by the atmosphere of mystery that prevails in this place, and the beautiful nature, and clean air.
Before leaving, you can take a walk in the garden or have a snack at a nearby floating restaurant (there are several such establishments nearby).
Despite the external brightness, in fact, the building has fallen into disrepair in some places. However, the authorities are in no hurry to repair it. And among tourists it is not very well known. Perhaps this is due to the high-profile scandal that arose around this place 15 years ago and is associated with some "sexual crimes". However, I don't want to go into the details of this story, because it is absolutely not connected with the architecture of this unique temple-skyscraper. One thing is clear: the building is unique, very beautiful and, of course, it must be preserved for posterity.
Well, if you come to this country in the fall, you can get to Loy Krathong is the most colorful autumn festival in Thailand.
Recommended:
Why a scandal broke out because of the famous Room with Peacocks, and its creator did not receive a fee for his masterpiece
When a UK shipping magnate, Frederick Richards Leyland, bought a house in 1876, he had no idea how it would turn out in the future. American artist James McNeill Whistler, who was immensely respected and appreciated by Leyland, was invited by him as a designer. Whistler happily set to work. In the process, he became so carried away that he created a real masterpiece, which is now housed in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington. Why was the tycoon so unhappy with the job?
How the most expensive Faberge Easter egg came about, and who is its forgotten creator
The most original among all the eggs created by the Faberge firm for the Imperial House was the "Winter Egg". Nicholas II spared no expense and paid Carl Faberge for it the largest amount ever paid for such products. The author of this world-famous masterpiece was a young woman - Alma Pil, whose name after the revolution was almost forgotten
How an extravagant centipede skyscraper appeared in Moscow, and what the new settlers thought of it
You can joke that residential houses "on legs" appeared in Russia in the era of Baba Yaga. But seriously, such buildings first gained popularity in the 20-30s of the last century. One of the most interesting such architectural projects is the Moscow high-rise building on Begovaya Street. The people called this house "House-centipede". However, whatever they call him
30 years of family happiness of Mikhail Kalashnikov: How the legendary AK assault rifle "thanked" its creator
When in the 1990s Mikhail Kalashnikov began to appear in public for the first time, people simply could not believe that he was real. Many even tried to touch him in the desire to make sure: he really exists! For 25 years, the designer worked in the strictest secrecy, and, quite naturally, there was no information about his family. Mikhail Timofeevich himself said that he found the happiness of his whole life thanks to the world-famous AK
The first playgrounds: extreme, which modern children never dreamed of
To remove children “from the streets” - an aspiration that is understandable for modern times - prompted the creation of the first playgrounds. But you wouldn't want to ride your child on a swing like this. Nobody thought about safety in those years