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Older than Bangkok
Wat Pho existed before Bangkok was made the capital
Wat Pho is one of Bangkok's oldest temples. It dates from the Ayutthaya period, though its founder and the date of building are not known. It became a royal monastery after Taksin placed his palace beside Wat Arun, across the river.
Saved images
Rama I rebuilt it and filled it with Buddha images from abandoned temples
In 1788 Rama I ordered Wat Pho renovated, and the marshy site was drained and filled in. Buddha images were removed from abandoned temples in Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and elsewhere and kept here, including remnants of a huge image from Wat Phra Si Sanphet.
Reclining Buddha
The reclining Buddha is 46 metres long
The figure in the Chapel of the Reclining Buddha is 15 m high and 46 m long, one of the largest Buddha statues in Thailand. Rama III built the chapel in a renovation that began in 1832 and took 16 years and seven months.
46 metresthe length of the reclining Buddha
A university
It became Thailand's first university, with lessons set into its walls
Rama III made the complex a public centre of learning by decorating the walls with diagrams and inscriptions. About 50 people from his court and learned monks wrote them. UNESCO registered the marble illustrations and inscriptions in 2008.
Massage
Traditional Thai massage is taught here, and plaques show the pressure points
Plaques around the temple carry texts on medicine and figures with pressure points for Thai massage. A school of traditional medicine and massage was set up in 1955. The temple has trained more than 200,000 massage therapists who work in 145 countries.
Day 1, midday
It comes after Wat Phra Kaew. Then Wat Arun.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Wat Pho, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.