Thailand has no shortage of temples and some say if you have seen one, you have seen them all but thirteen kilometres out of Chiang Rai is a sight for sore eyes known as Wat Rong Khun. Wat Rong Khun is also known as ‘White Temple’ and is one of the most recognizable temples in Thailand. This temple is known for its extremely intricate details and that is why we can call it an intricate masterpiece. Every part of this temple is unique.
Every detail of Wat Rong Khun carries deep religious symbolism. To reach the main temple hall, tourists start on a bridge, with first thing that greets them being hundreds of hands coming up from the ground representing the hell with worldly desires like greed, lust and alcohol. Over the bridge, the tourists walk through the gates of heaven, where two creatures decide the fate of the dead. This temple has cryptic art inside which shows the final conflict of Buddha with his own demons and immoral thoughts before he obtained enlightenment and inner peace. Much of the temple’s messages refer to escaping desire, greed and passion and moving towards the subline through Buddhist teaching. The temple building symbolizes the realms of the Buddha and rising to a state of Nirvana. The main temple is pure white representing Buddhist purity and the level of detail with the little mirrors is just amazing. These mirrors depict Buddha’s wisdom shining through the universe. Contrasting the white is a gold building, the ornate restroom. That restroom is covered in gold leaf, symbolizing the idea of the mind’s fixation on wealth and material possessions. The artist (Chalermchai Kositpipat) chose the colour white for the temple, as opposed to gold which is traditionally used in Thai temples because he felt that gold was suitable for people who lust for evil deeds. What this artist has created is simply one of a kind and is a message to warn against temptation. Behind the main temple, there is also a beautiful wishing well.
Though it’s a Buddhist temple with traditional design themes, but it is also envisioned as an art exhibit. This is because of the walls of the hall, which are covered in pop culture murals depicting traditional Buddhist motives. Batman, Superman, Mickey Mouse, Kung fu Panda, the King of Pop Michael Jackson, as well as aliens, peace signs, guns, the terminator and the terror attacks of 9/11 and many more depict that superheroes don’t exist to save us in real life and that we need world peace. One of the most stunning things about this temple is the amount of intricacy and attention to detail given to even small-small objects like scale to the dragon, faces of the superheroes etc.
If we look into the history of this temple, we get to know that by the end of 20th century, the original temple on the site had fallen into a state of despair and there were no funds available to fix this temple. And then, in 1997, a local artist (Chalermchai Kositpipat), took the opportunity to buy this Buddhist temple. Back then, this temple was totally different. That artist had a vision and what he’s created with THB1,080 million of his own money is simply incredible. Unfortunately, an earthquake in 2014 caused extreme damage to the temple and it almost had to be demolished for safety reasons, but it has now been fully repaired and welcomes visitors throughout the year. This temple is a continuing on-going project with hopes of it being fully completed by 2070.
The artist hopes that the temple will be a place for meditation and mindfulness for locals in the area and what he had created is an offering to Buddha in hopes of it giving him immortal life. While the temple is visually stunning and attracts thousands of tourists from around the world, but when it was first completed, it received negative attention. The Thai government, monks and other artists said it wasn’t Thai art, as it was a departure from the tradition due to the symbols embracing pop culture found throughout the grounds. Due to these reasons, Chalermchai Kositpipat is considered as one of the most controversial artists. His ability to blend contemporary Buddhist architecture with modern pop culture was criticized to such an extent that some people in the Buddhist church wanted him getting banned. However, the king of Thailand started collecting his works and Kositpipat’s popularity went through the roof. Today, this temple stands defiantly as an emblem of Thai art for a modern world.
By Kushagra Vashishth
