Visiting Grand Palace Bangkok

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The Grand Palace is the historical residence of the Kings of the Siam dynasty which is situated in Bangkok, Thailand. It is situated right in the heart of the city of Bangkok. It has been the residence of the Kings of the Siam dynasty since the year 1782. The Grand Palace is still the most popular venue for a number of events that is hosted by Bangkok. King Rama I, who was the founding father of the Chakri Dynasty , began the construction of this glorious palace in the year 1782. This was also the year when the capital city of the dynasty, Thonburi, was replaced with Bangkok.Along the years of the reign of the dynasty there was continuous remodeling of the palace and also plenty of portions of the palace were added to the original plan in the later years as per the needs of the kings. This was the official residence of the Kings of the Siam dynasty till the year of 1925 and when monarchy got abolished in the year 1932 all the residual government entities moved out of the palace. The palace covers an area of approximately two lakh eighteen thousand and four hundred square feet and the general plan of the palace is rectangular in shape.Visiting Grand Palace is a must if you are visiting Bangkok, even for a day. It is located in the middle of the Rattanakosin Island , and the banks of the river Chao Phraya forms one of the boundaries of the palace. The palace is not a single continuous structure; rather it is an amalgamation of quite a number of pavilions, halls, buildings as well as open gardens, lawns and courtyards.It is divided into a number of important parts like the Siwalai Gardens Quarter, the Inner Court, the middle court which is made up of the Chakri Maha Prasat Building, the Phra Maha Prasat Building and the Phra Maha Mounthian Building, the Outer Court and the very famous Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The palace is open to many tourists and certain portions of the palace are still used by the royal offices for the jobs. The chief attraction of the palace is however the Temple of the Emerald Buddha which also has a museum.The Museum which is the part of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is situated between the middle and the outer court region. It is the primary storage and exhibiting facility of the artifacts of the palace. This particular building was constructed in the year 1857 by the fourth King Rama and was initially constructed to be used as a mint facility for the dynasty. It was enhanced in size by the fifth King Rama but after sometime it had to rebuild because it got destroyed by the fire.There are plenty of other temples on the palace and numerous others building to explore. When visiting Grand Palace make sure that you have a day or two in hand because the palace is absolutely humongous to say the least. Visit as many buildings as you can because each building has a history of its own. The dress code is very strictly adhered to. The men should be dressed in full pants and shirts which have sleeves, if you are not wearing shoes then make sure that you wear socks with the sandals. For the women, they have to be in modest clothing with no see through garments and off shoulders. No walking bare feet on the sacred site.

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