If you have visited Thailand or have friends that have, you know that the statues of Buddha are huge and beautiful.   Today we visited Wat Trimitr to view the Golden Buddha.   And yes, this Buddha is solid gold.   5.5 tons of gold.   Here we are.

Main entrance Wat Trimitr

This, the main entrance, has many steps to enter.   Our group did not enter here.   We went in a side entrance to an elevator.   Here is Golden Buddha on his throne.

Golden Buddha

Golden Buddha is made in the style of the 13th and 14th centuries.   He is very old and was hidden and forgotten for centuries.   In the 1950’s an entire monastery was being relocated by a group of monks.   While moving the giant clay Buddha, a monk noticed a crack in the clay, and something shiny under the clay.   This Golden Buddha had been covered with thick layers of stucco and clay, inlaid with bits of colored glass.   Historians believe the monks tried to protect the Buddha from an attack by the Burmese army, about 200 years ago.   All the monks were killed in the attack, meaning no living person knew where the Golden Buddha was.  So in the 1950’s this was an incredible find.

Golden Buddha with Colorado Traveling Ducks

Soapy’s mom and Stephanie are holding us in front of Golden Buddha.   Golden Buddha was moved to this new temple, or Wat, on February 14, 2010.   Such a beautiful building.   Our moms visited Bangkok in 1986.   At that time, they walked in at ground level to see Golden Buddha.   A bowl of small square gold leaf was available for followers of Buddha to donate a few coins and put the gold leaf pieces on Golden Buddha.   This was done to ask for or give thanks for favors granted.   It seems the huge number of tourists and the modern world have also required changes to Golden Buddha.   Humans are not allowed close enough to touch Golden Buddha or his throne.  This Golden Buddha is the world’s largest solid gold Buddha statue.   Buddha is 12.79 feet (3.9 m) tall and 9.87 feet (3.01 m) wide.   Buddha is huge and that is a lot of gold.   One last look at Golden Buddha.

Golden Buddha

The bus is ready to leave, so with a last look at the new Wat Trimitr, as we depart.

Wat Trimitr

We will be visiting and showing you a couple other statues of Buddha, but they are all so impressive, we decided to show one Buddha at a time.   They are magnificent.