Wat Chet Yot

Seven spires

Seven spires crown a flat roof, and they give the temple its name

Crowning the flat roof of the rectangular windowless main building are seven spires, which give Wat Chet Yot its name. A pyramid-like spire with a square base stands set back from the centre, surrounded by four smaller similar spires, and two bell-shaped chedis sit atop the annexes.

1455

In 1455 King Tilokarat sent monks to Bagan to study a design

King Tilokarat commissioned the temple in 1455, after sending monks to Bagan in Burma to study the Mahabodhi temple there. That temple was itself a copy of the Mahabodhi Temple of Bodh Gaya, where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, attained enlightenment.

The council

A Buddhist World Council met here to renew the Tripitaka, the Pali Canon

In 1455 the king planted a bodhi tree on the spot, and in 1476 he had a large sanctuary established, probably for a ceremony commemorating 2000 years of Buddhism. The following year the 8th Buddhist World Council was held at Wat Chet Yot to renew the Tripitaka, the Pali Canon.

The faces

Stucco figures on the walls are said to wear the faces of the king's relatives

The outside walls carry 70 stucco reliefs of Thewada, divine beings, some of them strongly weathered. Their faces have allegedly been modelled after relatives of King Tilokarat. Inside, a barrel vaulted corridor leads to a Buddha statue at its end.

70stucco reliefs of divine beings on the walls

The roof

A bodhi tree once grew on the roof, until it was removed in 1910

In days past a bodhi tree grew on top of the roof. It was removed in 1910 to prevent the structure from collapse. Narrow stairs beside the Buddha statue lead up to the roof, which only men are allowed to enter. The largest of the chedis in the grounds contains the ashes of King Tilokarat.