The incredible story of the Golden Buddha at Wat Traimit in Bangkok

The Golden Buddha is a 3-metre high Buddha statue weighing 5.5 tonnes of solid gold that stands in Wat Traimit in Bangkok.

It is the largest gold statue in the world!

The history of the Golden Buddha is really surprising and surpasses the other discovery of the Golden Buddha of Wat Ban Dan.

The discovery of the Golden Buddha statue

The story begins in the early 1930s, when an old, abandoned temple in Chinatown, China, was the site of the BangkokThis is to be destroyed during the development of the Chao Phraya River banks.

This old temple contained a large golden stucco statue of Buddha which the officials did not know what to do with, as all the representations of Buddha are revered in Thailand, they can't be destroyed like that.

It was finally decided to move the statue to the Wat Traimita small temple located not far away, also in Chinatown.

As the temple had no building to house the statue, it remained outside under a tin roof for 20 years.

In 1955, the monks had a new building constructed and decided to put the statue there.

Every precaution is taken to avoid damaging the fragile stucco statue during the move.

But despite a ceremony and the prayers of the monks, one of the crane's cables broke and the statue fell into the mud.

The accident was considered a bad omen and the monks and workers quickly left the statue abandoned on the ground.

One can understand the mistake of the workers who thought they were moving a simple mass of stucco and not a heavy statue in solid gold!

Then, as if to confirm the bad omens, a great storm broke over the town, which was drowned under a torrent of water.

The next day, the temple official returned to the statue and began to wipe away the mud, and then he noticed a crack that revealed gold metal.

It was then that the massive Golden Buddha statue was discovered under the stucco and the news spread throughout the city and the country.

The small and quiet Wat Traimit was transformed into a world famous temple and is now a rich and much visited place.

Wat Traimit

The unknown origin of the Golden Buddha

No one knows where this statue comes from, it is assumed that it originates fromAyutthaya and that she was then transported to Bangkok.

Historians believe that centuries before the discovery, as the Burmese army prepared to invade Thailand, the monks, aware of the impending attack, covered their precious Golden Buddha with a layer of stucco to protect the treasure from the Burmese.

Unfortunately, if the secret could be kept for so long, it is certainly because the Burmese massacred all the monks and laymen who knew the secret.

What is certain is that the statue is of the style Sukhothai (1238-1370) because the flame above Buddha's head, which symbolises the radiance of his spiritual energy, is an innovation of the Sukhothai period, but it may well have been made later.

The mystery of the Golden Buddha remains unsolved...

Video of a visit to Wat Traimit, Temple of the Golden Buddha

Getting to Wat Traimit

It is located near Hua Lamphong Station in Chinatown.

Practical information

Open from 09:00 to 17:00

Admission costs 40 baht.

Address

Wat Traimit,, Mittaphap Thai-China Rd, แขวง ตลาดน้อย เขต สัมพันธวงศ์ กรุงเทพมหานคร 10100, Thailand

Location of Wat Traimit on a map of Bangkok

Source: wikipedia.org ; Photos: Golden Buddha: Chirag Gupta, Temple and Golden Buddha head: Di Ddalbiez, Golden Buddha