New Home For Golden Relic

[Khun Don]

NEW HOME FOR GOLDEN RELIC

World record-setting statue to take pride of place in landmark

Story by SUPOJ WANCHAROEN

In a matter of months, the world's largest golden Buddha statue, Luang Por Thongkham, at Wat Trai Mit Witthayaram in Chinatown, will be moved to a bigger, grander hall which is set to be a new city landmark.

The new hall, which costs 580 million baht, is part of the government's celebrations of His Majesty the King's 80th birthday last year.

Part of the funding for the new hall, which will be completed in September, is from private donors, while 250 million baht was allocated by the Surayud Chulanont government, and 70 million baht came from the temple.

Luang Por Thongkham Phra Buddhamaha Suwanpatimakorn entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1991 as the world's largest golden Buddha statue, with an estimated value of 1.8 billion baht.

The 700-year-old statue is an impressive 4.5 metres tall, weighs 5.5 tonnes and is made of solid gold, sculpted in the graceful Sukhothai style. The lap of the Buddha is about 3.78m wide.

The statue is now housed in a two-storey wooden building, built in 1946, which is in need of repair.

The new hall, designed by Arvuth Ngernchuklin, is a four-storey building which spans more than 20,000 square metres and accommodates exhibition space and conference facilities. The foundation piles for the new hall were laid in May last year.

"The concrete building will be covered with marble and contain bronze decorations. It is 30m wide, 60m long and 60m high," he said.

"The first floor will house a conference room. A permanent exhibition on Chinatown will be on display on the second floor. The third floor will feature an exhibition about Luang Phor Thongkham, while the statue will be housed on the top floor."

It was believed the statue was made for Wat Mahathat of Sukhothai during the Sukhothai era before it was transported, alongside many other Buddha statues, to Bangkok in the reign of King Rama I.

According to Group Captain Arvuth, the new hall has elevators and ramps to enable people in wheelchairs and the elderly to pay respects to the statue.

"The statue will be placed at the centre of the hall so that worshippers can walk around it," he said.

This is a change from the original position in which the statue is traditionally placed against a wall.

"The room is decorated in the same Sukhothai style as the statue. The decorations will, however, not be too lavish, to allow the statue to stand out," said Group Captain Arvuth.

Marble, which was imported from Italy, was chosen for its durability, he said, and bronze is a raw material chosen for decorations because it offers a smoother surface than ceramic.

Group Captain Arvuth confirmed the building would be ready for the opening ceremony this December to coincide with His Majesty's 81st birthday.

Structural construction is now 90% complete, and 20% of the internal decoration had been finished.

Prawit Kittipongpairoj, of Project Planning Service Co, a consultant for the project, said the statue would be moved to the new site on September 9.

A metal rail would be constructed to join the old and new sites. After a test run, the statue will be moved.

Although the statue can be broken down into nine parts, Mr Prawit said the whole statue would be wrapped in foam and placed in the metal structure, with protective wooden sheets placed in between.

Bangkok Post

[dbm]

Do you have a picture of this Golden Buddha?
Thanks

[Surawut]

Do you have a picture of this Golden Buddha?
Thanks

http://www.goldenbuddha-thailand.com...image.php?l=en

[Surawut]

I've been watching with interest the progress of the new building to house Phra Buddha Maha Suwan Patimakorn for some time now. The existing building is totally inadequate for the purpose, it is far too small and is always crowded with visitors. It is sometimes very difficult to get a good photograph of the image, or even to see it clearly. Parking there is also a major problem. There has been an architect's model of the new mondop on display alongside the image for a few years now and it looks like the new building will finally allow the image to be properly displayed in all it's splendour. As well as being home to this magnificent image, Wat Traimit is a "working" wat, complete with funeral saalaas and a temple school in the grounds as well.

[Betti]

where is the new temple being built? sounds like nearby, but Chinatown is so crowded, so I cannot really picture it!

[Surawut]

where is the new temple being built? sounds like nearby, but Chinatown is so crowded, so I cannot really picture it!

It's being built on the existing site Betti, they demolished a number of buildings on the corner of the site nearest to Odeon Circle. or Chinatown Gate as its also called.

http://thailandforvisitors.com/centr...own/index.html

[tony5147]

Hi :

May I know whether the new temple is opened?

Thanks.

Tony