While traveling around Thailand, it’s entirely possible that after a few days, you might experience what is known as, “temple fatigue.” Rest assured – this isn’t a type of migraine restricted to the upper lobes. Similarly to seeing “one too many churches” in Europe, each new temple (really called a ‘wat’) in Thailand can start to look identical after awhile.
The antidote outlier? Traveling up north to see Wat Rong Kuhn, or as English speak folks call it — The White Temple.
Typically, wats in Thailand are places of solemn, devout, spirituality. Each one is ordinarily adorned with gold and is a place of quiet reflection and prayer. Some of the fixtures within these wats stretch back decades, even, hundreds of years.
Wat Rong Kuhn
By contrast, Wat Rong Kuhn is just as much of an art exhibit as a place of worship. However, visitors should keep in mind the typical rules of visiting a wat, such as dressing modestly, and follow them.
The artist, Ajarn Chalermchai Kositpipat, who constructed Wat Rong Kuhn in Thailand, funded the temple entirely by crowd funding and using his own money. His vision for the wat was a more playful, artistic, and modern version of a Buddhist temple. For starters, he went with white because the traditional gold, in his mind, was too reminiscent of greed. Visitors to the wat will find creative references (such as murals) to pop culture including superheroes, Hello Kitty, and Harry Potter.
You can grab some “good karma” at this wat by making a donation and writing your name on a silver ornament which gets hung up besides the others. It was something so simple, but exciting to me once I learned that the ornaments are never removed. I’d love to visit one day again to see if I can find ours, although I’d wager it will take a loooong time to find it!
The most photographed spot of the wat is the Bridge of the Cycle of Rebirth. On either side are dozens of eerie, outstretched, hands which represent earthly sins. Guests must cross this “bridge over temptation” in order to reach the Gate of Heaven section. As entertaining as the artwork of Wat Rong Kuhn is, there is an overall sense of macabre as well, which in my opinion, any good art installation must have.
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