Wat Arun โ€” stupa
Image by CarinaHofi from Pixabay

Wat Arun

  • 2 min read
  • 13.744ยฐ N 100.489ยฐ E

Interesting facts

  • Wat Arun is pictured on the reverse of Thailand's bimetallic 10-baht coin.
  • The temple is named after Aruna, the Hindu deity who personifies the light of the rising sun.
  • Its earliest recorded name, Wat Bang Makok, predates 1656; King Taksin later renamed it Wat Chaeng before it became Wat Arun.
  • Its full ceremonial name is Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan.
  • Among the shells pressed into the prang's plaster are those of the humpback cowry, Mauritia mauritiana.
  • The French explorer Henri Mouhot, passing in 1858, estimated the pagoda at more than 200 feet and noted it was the first thing seen when approaching by river.
  • An American traveller in 1871 described its surface as an outlandish mosaic made from Chinese cups, plates and dishes.
  • The main Buddha image in the ordination hall, the Niramitr Buddha, is said to have been designed by King Rama II himself.
  • The temple was restored in 1980 in preparation for the 1982 bicentenary of Bangkok's founding.

Why it is worth it

Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, stands on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok. A temple has been here since the Ayutthaya period, when it was known as Wat Makok after the village around it. After Ayutthaya fell in 1767, King Taksin set up his new capital at Thonburi, and local tradition holds that he arrived at this temple at dawn and vowed to restore it, which is how it came by its present name. For a few years it sheltered the Emerald Buddha, before that image was moved across the river to Wat Phra Kaew in 1785 when Rama I shifted the capital to the east bank.

The temple's fame rests on its central prang, the tower that rises from a stepped base by the river. King Rama II planned to raise it to about 70 metres, and the work was carried out under Rama III and completed in 1851; figures for its present height differ between sources, but it is the tallest structure in the complex by a wide margin and was for a long time the first landmark ships saw coming upriver into Bangkok. Its surface is the real draw: the plaster is set with thousands of pieces of broken Chinese porcelain and seashells, arranged into flowers and patterns that glitter in the sun, much of the porcelain having arrived as ballast in ships from China. The tower represents Mount Meru, the centre of the Hindu-Buddhist cosmos; four smaller prangs surround it, figures of the god Indra on his elephant Erawan stand on the second terrace, and the top carries a seven-pronged trident. Beside it, the ordination hall is guarded by two giant demon figures from the Ramakien, the Thai version of the Ramayana.

A thorough restoration between 2013 and 2017 replaced broken tiles and redid the surfaces in traditional lime plaster, and the brighter result was controversial at first. Wat Arun is a working royal temple, and in the Kathina season the king has traditionally come by royal barge to present robes to the monks. The river frontage is lined with six Chinese-style pavilions of green granite that once served as landing stages, and in 2023 the temple was lit up with projection-mapped shows as part of a Tourism Authority festival along the Chao Phraya.

Getting there

The temple is in the Bangkok Yai district on the west bank of the river, about 1.8 km from central Bangkok. Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) is 22.6 km away and Suvarnabhumi (BKK), the main international airport, about 29 km. The temple is best reached by river: cross-river ferries link it with the east bank near Maharaj pier.

Plan your visit

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On these lists

The Most Beautiful Places in Thailand 24The Most Beautiful Temples in Thailand 9The Most Beautiful Sacred Places in Thailand 11The Most Beautiful Stupas 15The Most Beautiful Temples 95The Most Beautiful Sacred Places 623

From the encyclopaedia

Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan or Wat Arun is a Buddhist temple (wat) in the Bangkok Yai district of Bangkok, Thailand. It is situated in Thonburi on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. The temple derives its name from the Hindu god Aruแน‡a, often personified as the radiations of the rising sun. Built with a fusion of Indian influences, incorporating elements of both Hindu and Buddhist symbolism, as well as reflecting Siamese tradition and identity. Wat Arun is among the best known of Thailand's landmarks. Although the temple has existed since at least the 17th century, its distinctive prang (spire) was built in the early 19th century during the reigns of Rama II and Rama III.

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