The White Temple
In Pa O Don Chai, Mueang District, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, there is a majorly elaborate white temple called Wat Rong Khun (Thai: วัดร่องขุ่น). It stands amongst a bunch of other temples, some coated with shiny golden color, and modern pop-art mixed with Buddhist art style statues, several smaller ponds and fountains, and a large fish pond with koi and catfish - which by the way went INSANE when we were feeding them - it was almost like walking through a Disneyland type ride line, with more room and less people. The white temple was built in 1997, so 28 years ago.
This city was the artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat’s, hometown. He was extremely successful in everything in his life, then he went back and rebuilt the local temple before naming it Wat Rong Khun or White Temple. As of 2015, Kositpipat had spent over 40 million THB of his own money on the project, and the murals were not yet completed (“Wat Rong Khun” 2015). They were probably done years ago, and they look great. That's a big project for even a team of 136 people bought 40 added inside to rebuild at the White Temple, not the completion of the structure.
The entire temple compound has nine buildings, including a ubosot, a hall of relics, a meditation hall, an art gallery, and living quarters for monks ("Wat Rong Khun; The White Temple of Chiang Rai" n.d.). The main building is the white temple, the ubosot. To get there you first have to cross a bridge over a small lake. In front of the bridge are hundreds of outstretched hands that this said to symbolize unrestrained desire, but seem to more likely be desperate people begging to be lifted out of hell (in my opinion). The whole area around the entrance depicts the tortured and malformed people and monsters in hell.
The bridge proclaims that the way to happiness is by foregoing temptation, greed, and desire. Starting in hell, this is almost a Buddhist version of purgatory - if you’ve ever gone through the Divine Comedy. They play announcements in English and Thai, maybe Chinese too (I didn’t pay that much attention), telling people not to stop on the bridge. Of course, people still did, and it was very annoying. It’s just thin enough that you could squeeze by, but this one woman was holding everyone up at the beginning of the bridge to record something or just for pictures.
Next to the lake stand two very elegant Kinnaree, half-human, half-bird creatures from Buddhist mythology ("Wat Rong Khun; The White Temple of Chiang Rai" n.d.). After crossing the bridge of "the cycle of rebirth", you arrive at the "gate of heaven", guarded by two creatures representing Death and Rahu, who decides the fate of the dead. In front of the ubosot are several meditative Buddha images ("Wat Rong Khun; The White Temple of Chiang Rai" n.d.). The principal building, the ubosot, is an all-white building with fragments of mirrored glass embedded in its exterior. It embodies design elements from classic Thai architecture, such as the three-tiered roof and abundant use of Nāga serpents ("Wat Rong Khun; The White Temple of Chiang Rai" n.d.).
When entering the white temple itself, we were asked to check our shoes, and by check, they meant to put our shoes in a plastic bag and carry them inside.
“Inside the temple, the decor swiftly moves from pristine white to fiery and bewildering. Murals depict swirling orange flames and demon faces, interspersed with Western idols such as Michael Jackson, Neo from The Matrix, Freddy Krueger, and Sarah Connor and the T-800 series Terminator. Images of nuclear warfare, terrorist attacks such as the World Trade Center attack, and oil pumps hammer home the destructive impact that humans have had on earth. The presence of Harry Potter, Superman, and Hello Kitty confuses the message somewhat, but the overall moral is clear: people are wicked”
- ("A Tour of Wat Rong Khun, the Oddest Temple in Thailand" 2014)
The murals show so many more characters than listed above, including Kermit the frog, Mickey Mouse, Iron Man, Luke Skywalker, Thor, Flubber, etc., as heavenly heroes. Since good characters need to defeat villains the mural also has Darth Vader and the Emperor, Loki, Maleficent, and many more. Inside no one is allowed to take pictures, so you’ll just have to go see it for yourself. Especially from the younger generations, Kositpipat wants to get more of them interested in Buddhism. With these works you’re meant to want to be one of the heroes, fighting off evil, but also meant to form different opinions.
Then you turn around and see a huge Buddha statue in the seated hand-up posture it’s a completely different feeling. A melding of time periods and, at least to me, a contradiction in feelings. There’s the fun and excitement coming from the first 1/2 of the room, then the seriousness and importance of the latter half. I’m sure that’s part of the reason Kositpipat made this in the first place, and they don’t have to be so separate.
“The signature of Chalermchai Kositpipat on his work, the golden building at Wat Rong Khun” ("Wat Rong Khun; The White Temple of Chiang Rai" n.d.).
A structure that stands out because of its color is the golden building. Another very ornately decorated structure, this golden building represents the body, whereas the white ubosot represents the mind. The gold symbolizes how people focus on worldly desires and money. The white building represents the idea to make merit and to focus on the mind, instead of material things and possessions ("Wat Rong Khun; The White Temple of Chiang Rai" n.d.). What’s funny about it is that the golden building is what EVERYONE NEEDS, the bathroom. It’s great that it was free to use. So really, that was our first stop after buying the tickets. There are several statues out in front; they have to mean something specific, I personally just don’t know what.
I took photos out by the back of the ubosot for the fountain and the other white buildings.
Then we made our way around the theme park-like section. The theme seems to be an eclectic mix of supernatural horror movies and pop-culture party.
This was also the time we walked to the fish pond and watched the fish brutality and checked out the small ‘museum’ of some old pieces and some unfinished pieces that will probably be completed and put out in the future.
You can write your name and something you wish for, recording it at the lucky tree made of metal ornaments.
But, “oh my Buddha”, as our guide Sony always said, places like this aren’t ‘hidden gems’. They are so much more, and sharing yourself with the world is outstanding and I thank Chalermchai Kositpipat (the artist) for doing this for his hometown and the world. Places like this are fun reasons that I adore traveling.
*All photos were taken by me.*
Citations:
"Wat Rong Khun". Amazing Thailand. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Archived from the original on 31 October 2015.
"Wat Rong Khun; "The White Temple" of Chiang Rai". Renown Travel.
"A Tour of Wat Rong Khun, the Oddest Temple in Thailand". Slate. 22 July 2014.
