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Prasat Phra Thep Bidon (The Royal Pantheon)
The construction of the Royal Pantheon commenced in the year 1855, the first year of King Rama IV's regin.
He intended to use it for the enshrinement of the Emerald Buddha. However, it was not completed until after his death, and
his successor, King Rama V, did not move the palladium to the new building which he considered too small to accomodate
the congregation at royal ceremonies. A Small gilt stupa belonging to King Rama IV was placed there instead.
The Royal Pantheon was built on a cruciform plan with four porticoes and a corncob shaped tower-like superstructure known
as "prang", in 1903 the gilt stupa together with part of the edifice was destroyed by fire. After the repair of the building
King Rama IV, the then reigning king, mde use of it as the Royal Pantheon of the Chakri Dynasty, bestowing on it the name
Prasat Phra Thep Bidon (meaning the Shrine of the Celestial Ancestors). Life-size statues of the five preceeding kings from
King Rama I to King Rama V were initially installed: those of King Rama VI, King Rama VII and King Rama VIII were installed later,
after their deaths, and the Royal Pantheon was opened to the public to pay homage to their past sovereigns on April 6, the anniversary
of the Founding of the Chakri Dynasty. The Royal Pantheon is noted for its eye-catching gilt lacquer angel-motif designs on the outer
panels of the doors and windows, and for the decorative motif based on the emblems of each of the first five sovereigns of the Dynasty
on the side panels of the outer recesses of the doors and windows. On the lintels are stucco gold designs composed of royal decorations.
Inside the Royal Pantheon, stands the mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinet for the canonical texts. The cabinet with its tiered roof is one of
the most exquisite examples of the early Rattanakosin work of art whose creator, one of King Rama I's highest ranking courtiers,
evidently strove to rival the best of Ayutthaya inlay workmanship. The dimensions of the cabinet in relation to those of the doorways of
the building shows conformation to the convention of making the scripture cabinets larger than the exits so that thaey could not be
removed from the place where they rightly belonged.
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