Temples and Casinos

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Why temples are like casinos...

Bangkok and Chiang Mai are cities of wats, or temples, as we may call them at home. So in a place where one wat is competing for tourists' interest against another wat, how do you know which ones to visit? Easy. To me, it is a lot like Vegas casinos. The purpose is the same, but each has their own gimmick to attract the masses.

In Vegas the purpose is money and gambling and the gimmicks range from city-styled roller coasters, to a talking Julius Cesar to circuses to the Wizard of Oz. No matter your fetish, you can get it while gambling in a themed casino.

Same with temples. The purpose is the same- to pay respect to Buddha. Except, like Vegas, each temple has it's own tourist attraction: the reclining Buddha, the emerald Buddha, bones from the real Buddha. This isn't implying that each isn't great and impressive. They all are, you just have to find the Buddha to fit your fetish. There is a temple for any kind of Buddhist sight you could want to see.

So in Chiang Mai John and I chose two wats to walk through. Wat Phra Kaew Morakot was the first. It housed the Emerald Buddha. The room where the little statue lives is small and guilded and there are a lot of shiny things to look at. Just like Vegas. The attraction it's self is small, just over 60 cm and sits atop a lofty alter of gold. The King even dresses the little Buddha in robes appropriate for the season. When we saw Mr. Green Man he was clad in a golden mesh robe which beautifully accentuated his deep green hue. Quite an expensive dress-up doll. But fit for a king. Not photos allowed in the little room, but here is a pic I downloaded so you can see the site.



The other temple we visited that day was Wat Pho. It's gimmick is the massive reclining Buddha. It's huge and coated with gold. It's 46 meters longt and 15 meters high. I imagine him made of chocolate with a pretty golden wrapper. But I'm almost positive that it isn't true. The only part of the Buddha I could get close enough to bite into to test my theory is his feet. And I would rather have no chocolate at all than feet flavored chocolate. Maybe I was just hungry at this particular wat, but I swear that this locale is also the home to a gumdrop castle. There were several buildings that looked caked in sugar which sparkled in the sun. Yummy.

In this big Buddha room You walk in at the head of the Buddha and move toward the feet. There weren't too many people in the there and the ambiance was really peaceful. There was a quite ringing and tinkling sound in the background that was entrancing. As I rounded the corner I found the source of the sound. I had pictured a monk plucking away at an instrument I had never seen, but instead I saw a guy walking down an isle of little tin pots dropping a one bhat coin into each. It was the tink-tink of of money I heard that was so soothing. Just like Vegas.

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Photos

Little Spirit
These guys lined one of the temple buildings

The Golden Chedi
huge gold spires. Also made of chololate

Gumdrop Palace
Isn't it sugary?

Gumdrops
up colse they loose their sugar look

Monkies in a monkey suit
These pictures lined a wall the went around the entire perimeter of the complex. They tell the story of the Buddhas

Emereald Buddah
From a webiste (who smuggled in a camera)

Comments

[You can call me Bubbles]

Is the emerald Buddha just coated in emerald or is it one solid emerald? We definitely need to go back to Vegas.

[LinaLand]

Hello Bubbles...
It's one big giant stone- jade actually. Carved in another part of Asia and the source of many wars. You should google it... Yes, I would like to go back there. Maybe I can camp out at the craps tables to pay for my next big travels... Go big or go home, right?