Chiang Rai: White Temple
The most stunning architecture we've seen...
Known locally as Wat Rong Khun, this is Chiang Rai’s White Temple. It’s been designed by the eclectic artist from Chiang Rai, Chalermchai Kositpipat and before even paying the admission fee, it is obvious this is unlike any other temple.
The main buildings in the temple grounds are from white stone and with intricate mosaics of glasswork to reflect the Thai sun and give it that glimmering appearance.
Symbolism is everywhere you look, from the simplest white coloration for purity, to the hamartia of modern society.
In the walk up to the main temple building are several depictions of evil and pitfalls of the human race, including alcohol as a whiskey bottle is adorned with flames and skulls. Familiar faces from pop culture are shown hanging from the trees- with incredible air plants might I add!
The two guards on either side of the bridge are Death and Ruhu, fighting the sins on the bridge from getting in towards the main temple.
Once you get through the admission gates, you can ring a huge bell, signifying your admission to the journey through the temple and also alerting others to your path of enlightenment. There is a bridge towards the main hallway of the temple and this bridge is called the cycle of rebirth that as you cross onto the pure white and glistening bridge shows that you have passed the state of suffering and moved forward. Symbols of temptation, desire, greed, lust are all left at the bottom of this bridge. I don’t think the pictures do the sense of scale any justice for this, as the pit of “Hell” with grasping hands is huge. Surprise, surprise, Lyndon and I spent twice as long as everybody else at this point, as you cannot come back across this bridge, looking at all the finer details and trying to find creatures and meaning once our eyes adjusted to the brightness.
Once inside the temple, or the ubosot (main hallway of a temple), I expected to see a grand show of virtues: happiness, contentment, trust, truth. Unfortunately, we were not allowed cameras out as we took our shoes off and went to enter the ubosot, and this is enforced by the security staff. My thoughts of what was on display was completely contradicted as the entire hallway, floor to ceiling was covered in an immensely detailed mural. The “truth” I was witnessing, was fascinating. The entire mural is an orange colour, which is almost fiery. There within the mural are idols from the western world, fictional and non-fictional, such as Michael Jackson,, Keanu Reeves as Neo, Harry Potter, Hello Kitty, Spiderman, Ben 10. Real world events like the attack on the World Trade Centre were highlighted, the whale killing trade, the oil industry, warfare and nuclear weapons were also present on this mural, with demon faces swirling around them and as your eye scanned one, you were led to “witness” the next flaw and tragedy. Our eyes were constantly pulled and captured by things we found familiar enveloped in this classic religious mural. It feels like an attempt to harmonise what the world is and continues to become, with what is conceived as “good” and instead you get this overwhelming sense of allegory: humans are wicked.
Once you’ve explored the White Temple and the ubosot, you carry on into the complex to see a number of other artistic impressions and feats of architecture. Further on, we came across another traditional style temple, but this time in gold. This was full of trinkets and symbols of wealth and a shop too for souvenirs of the gallery. This is interesting as the gold building represents the body and how people focus on money and material desires, which you can then opt into confirming if you purchase anything! Whereas, the white temple and the ubosot you realise is to represent your mind, your thoughts, your creations and your will to help or hinder the world.
Another really impressive part of the White Temple complex is a section of caves. You have to pay extra to get into the caves and it was absolutely well worth it. Again, the caves were filled with artistic impressions of vices and pop culture. It also took you on a path of history, denoting ancient Greek and Egyptian symbols with more religious cynicism and allegory. It’s very clever as the lights trick your eyes and again, Lyndon and I spent a long time in each cavern getting used to the lighting and just spotting several hundred different parts to the carvings. I bet if we went in again, we’d see entirely new parts to it!
There was a whole section on Covid 19 and disease with representations of the deaths it caused, the masks and the vaccines and also the fear and isolation of the pandemic. This was replicated again near the entrance to a sink for washing hands, where the molecules of disease were covering the taps and vials of vaccines were the pumps for soap.
Fascinating facts about Wat Rong Khun:
It’s unfinished in a similar way to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, there isn’t an end date
To date, it’s cost 1,080 million THB that’s the equivalent of 25 million GBP
The artist refuses donations over THB 10,000, as he doesn’t want to be influenced
It was a temple before Chalermchai Kositpipat took it on as a restoration project
You have to be dressed appropriately, similar to all other temples in Thailand: covering shoulders, knees and in modest attire.
The toilet block is also golden and extremely ornate in its architecture
You cannot take photos inside the ubosot.
that looks stunning 🥹😍