The solid gold Buddha at Bangkok's Wat Traimit. Courtesy of Tourism Authority of Thailand
Wat Traimit
When: Daily
Where: Wat Traimit
Opening Hours: Daily 8am-5pm
Rating:
The Wat Traimit temple in Bangkok's Chinatown houses a three-metre-high Buddha made of over five tonnes of solid gold! In 1957, the stucco shell of a Buddha statue being moved by crane cracked to reveal a pure gold Buddha underneath.
Thought to have been fashioned in the 13th century, the gold Buddha (said to be worth, in bullion alone, upwards of £10 million) is a fine example of Sukhothai style, and its plaster covering is assumed to have been a (successful) attempt to disguise it from Burmese invaders.
