The “white temple’ is not something one would expect in the temple experience, and that is why so many people visit it. I am not sure anyone actually prays here, but a lot of people experience it.
Wat Rong Khun is the life’s work of Chalermchai Kosipipat, a painter and artist born in Rong Khun village, Chiang Rai province.
In his home village, there was a rundown temple originally built in 1867 by the first people who settled in this area.
Not sure they were the ‘first’ but a group started the community known as Wat Rong Khun, then changed the name to Ban Rong Khun. No idea why, but that is what the literature says.
Anyway, in 1964, the villagers built the ubosot, which would later become the white temple.
For those who do not know, including myself, an ubosot is a Thai Buddhist temple’s ordination hall, or most sacred prayer room. Also known as a bot. Thank you Google.
So fast forward to 1979 when the Thai government stepped in and funded the construction, or reconstruction of what was a rundown temple. 26 artists were involved in painting the murals, and Chalermchai was one of them.
That work finished in 1982, and Chalermchai moved to other projects, most notably from 1984 -1988 he was in charge of mural painting at Wat Buddhapadipa in Wimbledon, London, which was the first traditional Thai Buddhist temple of its kind in the UK.
Then my history gets a little sketchy, but I do know Chalermchai bought the temple in his hometown, re-designed it, and he oversaw the construction. The temple reopened to the public in 1997.
Not sure what happened between 1982 and when Chalermchai purchased the temple, because 15 years is not a lot of time for a building to degrade, but the result is he purchased it, redid it and funded the project with his own money. To date he has spent over 40 million THB on the project. That is roughly $1.2 million US if I did the math right.
Probably didn’t. New math and all. We talked about this before with the boat people.
He does have a vision for the entire complex, not just the bot. When the complex is completed, it will have 9 buildings, including a hall of relics, a meditation hall, an art gallery, living quarters for monks and of course, the ubosot. The work is ongoing, and not expected to be completed until 2070.
But most people who come here want to see the ubosot, because it is unusual. The only word to describe it is modern, and that is an oddity in the world of temples.
Kositpipat, a devout Buddhist, built an entirely white temple to symbolize the purity of Buddha. Further he believes the temple to be an offering to the Lord Buddha that will give Kositpipat immortal life.
Well, not sure about immortal life bit, but it is white. It is a concrete framework that is entirely whitewashed and decorated with transparent mirrored chips and glass inserts. White for purity of Buddha; Mirrors (glass) for the wisdom of Buddha; and the design in general of the structure is to be a ‘heavenly paradise.’
Sparkly.
Aside from the white and reflective exterior, it is an ornate (gaudy in my opinion) temple, embodying design elements from classic Thai architecture. 3 tiered roof is an example of the classic temple look, as is the abundant use of Naga serpents.
It also has a lot of Buddhist mythology throughout. One must cross a lake, via a bridge (the bridge of the cycle of rebirth). Before you cross the bridge, there are hundreds of hands reaching out, symbolizing unrestrained desire. Or so I am told. I have no idea what unrestrained desire is.
The bridge is the way to happiness, which is by forgoing temptation, greed and desire.
Yeah, I should not be anywhere near that bridge.
There are Kinnaree statues, which are half-human, half-bird like things, but to be honest, most of the meaning of the statues and such illuded me unless it was spelled out… in English… because I need subtitles to relate to the world.
When one makes it across the bridge, you arrive at ‘the gate of heaven.’ It is guarded by 2 statues representing death and Rahu, who is the guy who decides the fate of the dead. I know this because I was eavesdropping on a very informed German tourist informing his not informed children, and by extension others like me around him. I was disappointed to lose him in the crowd.
And crowd there was. It is a weird experience to visit the ubosot because once you commit to moving past the outstretched hands, there are signs and audio cues to keep moving. do not stop. Do not stop to take pictures or look at things, or anything. Just keep moving forward without pause until you are out the other side.
Which makes it hard to stop and look around at all the things everyone tells you to stop and look around at.
The tourists ignoring the orders and the polite ‘marshals’ who were trying to enforce them provided an interesting conundrum. Do I follow the rules or the crowd?
I did some of both. Mostly following the rule following crowd as we tried to avoid knocking down the internet influencer’s tripods they had set up throughout the line while they ran ahead and posed for their perfect insta shot.
And then you get to the door, or gate, or whatever lets you inside this great temple… and you take off your shoes, as you do in all temples.
But that causes a bottle neck in the ‘keep it moving’ line while the nice helpers hand out plastic bags to put your shoes in, or you could just carry them, but the point is, bottleneck and stern reminders no photography is allowed inside the ubosot.
While you observe the influencers taking ‘concealed’ pictures inside the ubosot.
I want to ask, if they post those pictures, do they realize they are opening themselves up to legal or moral punishment. I mean, forget copyright laws, or whatever they want to do in that arena and realize that the great all knowing Buddha himself is fully aware and watching their actions. Karma is a bitch, and I don’t think they realize they are wagging a stick at a mad dog.
So, no. I did not get any pictures inside the Ubosot, but I will tell you it is nothing like the outside. There are plenty of I assume ‘bootleg’ pictures on the internet if you want to look them up, but I’m not going to post links for fear of the mad dog karma.
There are murals of modern things, not the usual ‘life of Buddha’ stuff. Michael Jackson makes an appearance, as does Freddy Krueger, a bot from the Terminator, and even Neo from the matrix. All mixed in with swirling orange flames and demon faces.
Oil pumps, the World Trade Center , Harry Potter, Superman, Hello Kitty… the list goes on and on.
Apparently to show us that people are evil.
oh… kay. I guess it was not white or reflective inside, so… color, and people, are evil? White and disco balls are pure? Good to know.
But moving on. You get the idea the whole darn area is white and shiny, except one building. The bathrooms.
Not hidden in the corner behind the fruit stand restrooms, but a building to rival the size and significance of the white temple itself stands opposite the pureness next to the entrance of the complex.
This building is ornate like the temple, but it is pure gold in color. The brochure said the restrooms represent the body (and apparently its waste) and the ubosot represents the mind.
The gold symbolizes how people focus on worldly desires and money (and because it is a restroom, apparently wasting or disposing of those worldly desires, but that is just my take on it); where the ubosot represents making merit (alms) and focusing on the mind instead of material things.
oh… kay.
I’m not oblivious to symbolism. True, I do not always get it at first glance, and cultural references do have a lot to do with understanding, but having said that… wow. just wow.
I applaud the effort to bring a new crowd into the thoughts of Buddhism through creative, age relevant art, but a couple of hints from my playbook to the white temple people.
If you want us to appreciate your art and grasp a deeper understanding of your message, let us look at it. Don’t usher us through like cattle so confused we are not sure what to do.
If you want us to spread the word, you need more cue cards. Give us the information about what the things mean and where to look for the things you want us to see, because not everyone has an educated German to eavesdrop on.
Or, here is the easiest thing yet. Provide literature for us to read when we arrive so we can move through the cattle gates and look in the right places without needing a bunch of staff to push us through, and then we also have something to take home and study so we can spread the word.
But those are just my initial observations.
I will say they have the coolest traffic cones on the planet, and the sculptures and such outside the ubosot area, mostly around the bathrooms are neat to look at, even if I had no idea why I was looking at it or most of the time what it was.
