I Visited World’s Largest Solid Gold Buddha!
H.E. Tsem Rinpoche Visits Wat Traimit
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Thai02BuddhaSolidGold.mp4
Dear friends, travelers, explorers, and those seeking spiritual blessings,
If you are in Bangkok, please go visit the most exquisite Lord Buddha in Wat Traimit. This Wat (Temple) is in Bangkok itself. I was flabbergasted at the beauty of this Buddha. In my short video I have described the background of this most serene Buddha upon sight takes your breath away. Our Thai friend Green recommended for us to visit. Thank you so much Green!
I love Buddha images so much since very young. It is a tremendous blessing to be in their presence. If you have the chance to visit Wat Traimit and sit in the presence of this Buddha then recite the 35 Confessional Buddha Sutra, Yonten Shigyurma, King of Prayers, Praise to Shakyamuni by Tsongkhapa, Medicine Buddha practice or any practice you know in the presence of this most sacred image. Make it a point to visit. Or you can simply sit and meditate for a while.
Much care, much blessings and much prayers,
Tsem Rinpoche
This is the Wat Traimit… which houses the nearly 10 ft solid gold Buddha weighing many tons… Beautiful…
This was a pleasant surprise… we found Dzambala at this Wat Traimit also…
A second Dzambala statue at this Wat (Temple)…
History
The origins of this statue are uncertain. It is made in the Sukhothai Dynasty style of the 13th-14th centuries, though it could have been made after that time. The head of the statue is egg-shaped, which indicates its origin in the Sukothai period. Given that Sukothai art had Indian influence and metal figures of the Buddha made in India used to be taken to various countries for installation, this suggests the Golden Buddha statue may have been cast in parts in India.The shape of the statue’s head dates it to the Sukothai period. Later, the statue was probably moved from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya, about 1403.
Some scholars believe the statue is mentioned in the somewhat controversial Ram Khamhaeng stele. In lines 23-27 of the first stone slab of the stele, “a gold Buddha image” is mentioned as being located “in the middle of Sukhothai City,” interpreted as being a reference to the Wat Traimit Golden Buddha.
At some point, the statue was completely plastered over to prevent it from being stolen. The statue was covered with a thick layer of stucco, which was painted and inlaid with bits of coloured glass. It is believed that this plastering over took place before the destruction of Ayutthaya kingdom by Burmese invaders in 1767. The statue remained among the ruins of Ayutthaya without attracting much attention.
In 1801, Thai King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I), after establishing Bangkok as a new capital city of the Kingdom, and after commissioning the construction of many temples in Bangkok, ordered that various old Buddha images should be brought to Bangkok from the ruined temples around the country.
At the time of King Rama III (1824-1851), the statue, still covered with stucco, was installed as the principal Buddha image in the main temple building of Wat Chotanaram in Bangkok.
When Wat Chotanaram, located near Chinatown, fell into disrepair and was closed, the statue was moved to its present location at the nearby Wat Traimit in 1935. At the time, Wat Traimit was a pagoda of minor significance (like hundreds of other Buddhist temples that exist in Bangkok). Since the temple didn’t have a building big enough to house the statue, it was kept for 20 years under a simple tin roof. The true identity of this statue had been forgotten for almost 200 years.
Discovery of the golden statue
In 1954, a new Viharn building was built at the temple to house the statue. It was being moved to its new location on 25 May 1955 and there are a variety of accounts of what exactly happened next, but it is clear that during the final attempt to lift the statue from its pedestal, the ropes broke, and the statue fell hard on the ground. At that moment, some of the plaster coating chipped off, allowing the gold surface underneath to be seen. Work was immediately stopped so that an evaluation could be made.
All the plaster was carefully removed and during the process, photos were taken, and are now displayed in the Temple for visitors. Pieces of the actual plaster are also on public display. When all the plaster was removed, it was found that the gold statue actually consisted of nine parts that fit smoothly together. A key was also found encased in plaster at its base, which can be used to disassemble the statue, allowing for easier transportation.
The golden statue was discovered very close to the commemoration of the twenty-fifth Buddhist Era (2500 years since Gautama Buddha’s passing) so the Thai news media was full of reports and many Buddhists regarded the occurrence as miraculous.
On 14 February 2010, a large new building was inaugurated at the Wat Traimit Temple to house the Gold Buddha. The building also contains the Bangkok Chinatown Heritage Centre, and an exhibition on the origin of the Gold Buddha.
Characteristics
The statue is 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall and weighs 5.5 tonnes (5.4 long tons; 6.1 short tons). (According to another account, the statue measures 3.91 meters from base to top, and 3.10 meters across the lap from knee to knee.) It can be disassembled into nine pieces. The statue was housed in a wat in Ayutthaya until the mid 19th century, and its provenance from Ayutthaya excludes the possibility of it having been made after about 1750.
At US$1,400 per troy ounce, the gold in the statue (18 karat) is estimated to be worth 250 million dollars. The body of the statue is 40% pure, the volume from the chin to the forehead is 80% pure, and the hair and the topknot, weighing 45 kg, are 99% pure gold.
The Buddha is represented in the traditional pose of Bhumisparsha Mudra (touching the earth with the right hand to witness Shakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment at Bodh Gaya). The original statues of Sukhothai sit on a common pedestal form. The flame that crowns the ushnisha is an innovation of Sukhothai that symbolises the splendour of spiritual energy. The line of the hairdressing forms a “V” shape in the root of the hairs, underlined by the elegant curve of the eyebrows that join above the aquiline nose, all according to the prescribed rules. The three wrinkles in the neck and the much elongated ear lobes, signs of his former status of prince, also form part of the code, as do the wide shoulders and the chest inflated.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Buddha_(statue)
The Golden Buddha
Close-up picture of the Golden Buddha in Wat Traimit
Bangkok map. Click on image to enlarge.
Location of the Wat Traimit temple. Click on image to enlarge.
The Temple of The Golden Buddha, Wat Traimit.
Evening view of the temple.
The beautiful temple of the famous Golden Buddha.
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Thailand has many gleaming temples and revered Buddha images. The Golden Buddha gold sculpture dated back to the 13th century is a place worth visiting. Located in Wat Traimit, a temple in Bangkok, the Golden Buddha is the world’s largest golden Buddha statue is nothing short of a miraculous legend. The attraction of this temple is undoubtedly the impressive gold Buddha. Pious Buddhists describe this statue as reflecting the true nature of the Buddha, and visitors from all over the world come to marvel at the beauty of this ancient treasure. The colour of gold is important in the Buddhist mysticism, symbolising happiness and good health. It is a tremendous blessing merely looking at it. I have not visited this yet , would love to one of this days.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
It is amazing to see a huge gold Buddha statue. And what is more interesting is that the gold layer was only discovered after so many years. Though I have not been to this temple but we are fortunate to get a chance to view the Buddha statue via this post. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article and the history.
Thailand is truly amazing. It blends traditional and modern very well, and let culture, religion, and modernization interweave themselves together. Everyone in Thailand embraces their culture and religion with pride. Therefore, it is very beautiful to witness a statue of Buddha made entirely of pure gold gracing the city of Thailand amidst the hustling and bustling city lives. It is very meritorious to have a wat with many big Buddha statues to bless the people and the land. May the faith in Buddha grow forever more. Thank you, Rinpoche, for this sharing.
Very beautiful Buddha in gold.Its really amazing to see a Buddha statue made of pure gold in Thailand. I feel very blessed to see this stunning golden Buddha. Thank you very much Rinpoche for sharing this with everyone _/\_
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this beautiful and precious buddha statue.
I been visited there since 2012, when i join pilgrimage tour to India and Thailand which organised by Kechara . This is one of the pilgrimage holy place should visit. I make flowers and mandala offering to this beautiful buddha. And also , we all recite mantra and circumambulation the statue and doing prayer at the temple and king of prayer there. We must always visit the holy places like Bodhgaya and Wat Traimit to have good imprint and collect merit.
Im Malaysia, we have a holy place for pilgrimage and visit also, named “Kechara Forest Retreat”. Kechara Forest Retreat is my holy and pilgrimage place always visit. I love this place so much and we can also collect merit and doing purification at this holy place, Kechara Forest Retreat.
With Love,
YEO KWAI GIN
Its really amazing to see a Buddha statue made of pure gold in Thailand.T have been to this temple a long long time ago and have seen many beautiful Buddha statues but didn’t realize there is actually a Buddha made of gold.I will visit again one day to see the beautiful
Golden Buddha and Dzambala statue as well.Its wonderful to know the history of the temple too.
Thanks Rinpoche for sharing.
Thx Rinpoche for sharing. I had been this temple.very nice. I always visit temple in Bangkok. I love temple n Buddha statues so much. I would to recommend Rinpoche to visit ‘Sanctuary of Truth’.Construction of this temple started 1981 but isn’t finished till now and schedule finished 2050.i am no regret on this visit.
Wow! This Buddha is very old and it is made of almost pure gold and I find that amazing because the Siamese people of the past had the merit and understanding that benefits of fashioning a Buddha statue out of such a precious material. I think we all should follow suit according to our own budgets.
I have 4 feet Lama Tsongkhapa statue that I am very proud of and is sponsored by my dad and the statue is dedicated to my parents. I love Buddha statues and I kinda got this from Rinpoche who has a great passion for exquisite and iconographically correct Buddha statues that he collects to give away to special people he meets in order to start them off on their practice. Well, for me is to collect merit but I do give some of my statues away to people as well.
Back to Wat Traimit and Dzambala, I did noticed seeing Dzambala in some Thai temple in the past and I think it is a prevalent practice in Thailand but do not know more. It would be interesting to read about how Dzambala got into Thailand. Is it a recent phenomenon perhaps because of the influence of Chinese practitioners who also practice Tibetan Buddhism or something from the past. The style of the Dzambala seems to look distinctly Thai though… Hmmm..
What an amazingly beautiful image and history of this Buddha statue. I especially love the narration by Rinpoche which was eloquent, precise and concise… It was like a Nat Geo commentary! Loved it. Next time I am in Bangkok, I will most certainly go visit!
SP did a great job of filming and editing… well done SP!
Wow , very nice place to visit. This is largest solid gold buddha of world,so fortune to see this photo , thanks Rinpoche to share it. I also share with my friends too , may they also have fortune to visit this temple .
Very interesting.. I would like to visit this temple one day. I really like the Thai people who are being friendly and spiritual. 🙂
Wow! The solid gold buddha statue is spectacular! How meritorious for the sponsors to have created this Buddha statue. What’s more amazing is that it has survived for hundreds of years. Too bad I didn’t visit it when I was in Bangkok last year. Will definitely make a trip there next time.
Seeing Dzambala Buddha is also very surprising as it is not a Theravadian tradition to pray to Dzambala. Anyways, making offerings to all Buddhas are the same.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank so much for the photos and video.
I watched the video it is very nice. This Buddha and Dzambala are very beautiful.
亲爱的仁波切与学徒们，
谢谢大家，为了我们四处寻找关于佛陀的一切！ 日后我们也可以跟随着这些资料去朝圣！
从录音里，仁波切好像感冒了。 希望可以快点好起来！
好期待在马来西亚也会有更多诚心的佛教徒，为各大寺庙维持佛法！
所谓 ： 建庙容易，维持难！
Dear Rinpoche, thank you very much for all the photos, updates and talks on your trip in Bangkok. Seeing the Golden Buddha image again is such a blessing for me as the last time i went to this temple was 4 years ago. At that time i started to like and see Buddha images and understand the history behind it. I am so happy to know that i can and should recite the prayers which i have learnt in Kechara. I love the first Dzambala statue image, didnt see it on my trip. Thank you to Seng Piow and all who are with Rinpoche and helping to get the infor to all of us.
Oh, I would also comment that Seng Piow’s videography is superb!!!
Love the last bit on how the door closes towards the end of the video, what a neat ending! 🙂
Dear Ethan,
Seng Piow works very hard single handedly on all the videos. He films, edits, renders, uploads all on his own. He is very enthusiastic about it always. Sometimes he works 10 hours a day editing and uploading. He said he would like to get the dharma talks up to share as it will benefit. It is how thinks and his motivation. I am so glad you recognize his hard work. Thank you very much. I hope you are well always…. Tsem Rinpoche
Dear Rinpoche:
I really liked the story behind this Buddha image. It is interesting how this Buddha image ended up in Wat Traimit. I can imagine the disguise was so good and people didn’t take notice of what’s within.
This also reflects how interesting to see people didn’t pay much attention because it was a plastered Buddha image, and when people found out it was real gold, people went “wow”. This really showed how attached we are to material stuff.
I rejoice very much to be able to visit many many temples in Thailand and see how devoted and respectful they are towards Buddhism. So much to see, so much to learn.
Thankyou Rinpoche for this opportunity.
Dear Your Eminence,
I was watching your video clip and noticed that Y.E.’s voice sounded a bit deep, like you are catching a cold. Indeed, from your latest blog, you have indicated that you are catching a cold.
I pray that you would get well very soon, and that you could continue with your present work that benefits many people that follow your work every where you go to.
May your Dharma talk continue to reach many people and transform their mind, thus, improving their daily lives!
Kind Regards,
John
This is stunning! Thank you for sharing these pictures with us Rinpoche. You can feel the serenity and blessings through the photo alone. Really beautiful. The temple is stunning too – such brilliant architecture. I love seeing how much devotion the thais have for Buddhism and their religion there; their love and devotion is clear in the amount of effort, detail and care they put into religious sites and places of worship. the energy pervades the whole country and people. Thank you again Rinpoche for all the updates in BKK 🙂
I love Buddha so much. I love all images of Buddha from any country!! I feel so fortunate to have come across Buddha and His Dharma. May I have this fortune in all future lives. I love you Buddha from the depths of my heart. Tsem Rinpoche