Venerdì 18/XII/2015
WAT RONG KHUN (A nightmare)
“The White Temple” of Chiang Rai
Unique temple
Wat Rong Khun is a unique temple that stands out through the white color and the use of pieces of glass in the plaster, sparkling in the sun. The white color signifies the purity of the Buddha,while the glass symbolizes the Buddha’s wisdom and the Dhamma, the Buddhist teachings.
On May 5th 2014 a strong earthquake hit Chiang Rai. Although the white temple was badly damaged, Chalermchai Kositpipat decided to restore and further expand the Wat Rong Khun.
History of the Wat Rong Khun
Towards the end of the 20th century, the original Wat Rong
Khun was in a very poor state of preservation. Restoration works on the temple
started, but had to be halted due to a lack of funds.
Chalermchai Kositpipat, a artist born in Chiang Rai, decided
to completely rebuild the temple and fund the project with his own money. The
artist built the temple to be a center of learning and meditation and for
people to gain benefit from the Buddhist teachings. (Today the works are ongoing.)
Structures of the white temple and their symbolism
Every detail of the white temple carries meaning and
encourages the visitor to reflect on the Buddhist teachings that show the way
to escape from the worldly temptations, desires and greed and focus on the mind
instead. 
The bridge of “the cycle of rebirth”
The ubosot, the main building of the white temple, is
reached by crossing a bridge over a small lake. In front of the bridge is a
circular area with hundreds of reaching hands that symbolize desire. This area
represents human suffering and hell. The bridge towards the ubosot, called the
bridge of “the cycle of rebirth” signifies the crossing over from the cycle of
death and rebirth into a state free of suffering. It symbolizes the way to
happiness by overcoming worldly thing as temptations, greed and desire.
Next to the lake stand two very elegant Kinnaree, a creature
from Buddhist mythology, half human, half bird.
The “Gate of Heaven”
After crossing the bridge the visitor arrives at the “Gate
of Heaven” guarded by two huge creatures that represent Death and Rahu, who
decides over men’s fate. At the end of the bridge in front of the ubosot are
several Buddha images in meditation.
The ubosot
Whereas the murals of many old temples depict scenes from
Buddhist stories, the walls of the white temple contain colorful murals that
depict modern representations of good and evil, contemporary figures like
Batman, Spiderman and Elvis, villains and superheroes from movies and comics and
even spaceships.
On the back wall of the ubosot is a golden mural of
the Buddha, a few images of the Buddha in front of it.
The golden building
A structure that stands out because of its color is
the rest rooms building. Another very ornately decorated structure, this golden
building represents the body, whereas the white ubosot represents the mind. The
gold symbolizes how people focus on worldly desires and money. The golden
building represents the idea to make merit and to focus on the mind, instead of
material things and possession.
The crematorium
Another elaborately ornamented structure is the crematorium.
This is where the deceased are cremated.
The people attending the cremation are reminded of the temporary character of everything on earth, as opposed to the mind that lives for ever.
(To get an impression of the tremendous amount of work
done to build the white temple take a look in the large building behind the
temple. In the hall staff apply hand made pieces of mosaic mirror to various
parts before they get assembled onto a building.)
Other structures
Around the temple grounds are several concrete “trees”
with thousands of medallions hanging down from them. For 30 Baht you can add
yours with your name written on it.
Visitors of the temple make a wish throwing a few coins into
the wishing well.
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