Wat Benchamabophit (Marble Temple), Bangkok

Wat Benchamabophit (27 October 2006)

Wat Benchamabophit, also known as the Marble Temple, is one of the more famous and beautiful temples in Bangkok. Indeed it was then last of the major temples built in Bangkok. It is noted for its seemless fusion of European elements into an Eastern temple architectural design. Commissioned by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), it was designed by his brother Prince Naris and Italian architect Hercules Manfredi and stands on the site of an earlier Ayutthaya-style temple. The name Marble Temple came about because it was finished with Italian Carrara marble.

Wat Benchamabophit, the Marble Temple (27 October 2006)

Wat Benchamabophit is laid out to a cruciform plan topped by traditional Thai cascading roof. The bot, or assembly hall, is elegant and contains beautiful Victorian-style stained glass depicting scenes from Thai mythology. In the chapel containing the ashes of King Rama V is a copy of the highly reverred Phra Buddha Chinarat statue of Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat in Phitanulok. In the cloister are Buddha images, totalling some 53, originals as well as copies, from Thailand and other Buddhist countries collected by King Rama V.

Within Wat Benchamabophit are three sets of fabulous doors which were salvaged from Wat Borom Buddharam of Ayutthaya. There is also a building where King Rama V lived as a monk.

Getting there

Wat Benchamabophit is located at the junction of Si Ayutthaya Road and Rama V Road. It is best to go there by taxi. Buses that pass by there are nos. 3, 16, 23 and 505