Wat Saket

Wat Saket: Temple on the Golden Mount, Bangkok

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• published: 03 Feb 2010
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One of the most eye-catching historic religious landmarks in Bangkok is the glittering chedi that sits astride the Golden Mount, which is also known as Phu Khao Thong, part of the Wat Saket temple complex. Once one of the highest points in all the city it is still an imperious sight and, by night, when the towing golden-tiled chedi is floodlit it can be seen for miles around. Wat Saket, the large temple complex that sprawls out from the foot of the mount, was built first, as the crematorium for Bangkok; it is situated just outside the royal city walls as burning bodies wasn't permitted within the city. The Golden Mount in in fact in an historically cluttered zone as it rises upwards just a few hundred metres away from Mahakan Fort, one of just two forts to have survived the centuries since they were built and a few hundred metres of the city walls that still stand juts out on one side. A plague during the reign of King Rama II in the 19th century reportedly saw more than 30,000 bodies cremated at Wat Saket. However it was King Rama III Chao Phraya Thiphakornwongse who built the artificial mount in the 19th Century as he wanted to site a large chedi at the entrance to the city; however built on the soft, swampy, ground it collapsed before was finished. According to a plaque on the walls of the mount, the King appointed Phraya Sriphiphatratanarajakosa, a commanding officer, to build the mount and he called for the donation of teak logs, with several thousand being buried in the shape of a raft. The succeeding monarch, Rama IV, more teak logs to shore the muddy mound up further and he placed a small chedi on top. His son, Rama V (1853-1910), added the chedi that sits on top of the mount today and placed in it a Buddha artifact gifted by the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, which had been excavated from the town where it was rumoured that Buddha was born. During World War II the mount was encased in concrete to stop the erosion that could have led to its collapse. I had been meaning to visit the 78 metre high Golden Mount for sometime as its such a distinct landmark at night. Just off Ratchadaemnok Road it overlooks Mahakan Fort, one of just two forts that were built into the city walls that survive today along with a cluster of other important temple complexes. A wide, circular perimeter road surrounds the base of the mount which is a mix of rocks, jutting trees and haphazard shrines where ashes have been dug into the rocks, seemingly randomly, and faced off with concrete with the name of the person buried etched into it. 318 - quite gentle and wide - steps lead to the top and at the first level, after the path curves its way upwards past a gentle waterfall, the more-recently added concrete sarcophagus begins. The path to the top spirals its way slowly round the sloping mount, interspersed with horizontal sections complete with rows of huge, aged bells that visitors ring as they walk past. At the top of the staircase there is a large square building contains Buddhist relics, and in the centre steps from all four sides lead up to the centre piece shrine which has been covered in layers of gold leaf by the faithful over the years. The shrine, sits in a circular aperture directly under the chedi. It has by a narrow circular corridor with a high ceiling running round it which is accessed from the steps that rise from the main room on all four sides, the short entryways intersecting with this single-file corridor as they lead into the shrine that sits in the centre. At the outer corner of the temple building, meanwhile, steep and narrow steps lead up to the roof terrace where the towering chedi, covered with thousands of glittering gold mosaic tiles, dazzles, every bit as impressive close-up as it is from a distance. Although the Temple of the Golden Mount can no longer be described as a "tall" structure in a city that seems to grow upwards just as much as it rolls outwards, there is little of its height in the immediate vicinity and the view is unimpeded and spectacular too: a 360 degree vista that takes in the myriad towering concrete buildings of the new city to some of the iconic historic landmarks of the old town, such as the tops of Democracy Monument while the golden web of the suspension cables of the Rama VI bridge can be clearly seen fanning out. Meanwhile worshipers - and its a Sunday so the mount is very busy - light candles, walk round the terrace several times and offer prayers.