Wat Ratchaburana Ratchaworawihan

The Oridination Hall

Located at the foot of the Memorial Bridge in between Chakraphet and Triphet Roads. This temple was originally named "Wat Liap". It was there before the Rattanakosin Period. H.R.H. Prince Kroma Luang Debhariraks, a nephew of King Rama I requested the temple to be granted royal status and the name Wat Ratchaburana Ratchaworawihan was then given.
Later in the reign of King Rama II, the king built the cloister to enshrine 162 images of the Buddha brought down from up country during the reign of King Rama I, around the Oridination Hall. He also erected the Wihan for the image of the Buddha together with 80 disciples. King Rama III built a Prang which was not damaged during the war but deteriorated because of age and was only restored in A.D. 1959, together with other objects in the temple built during the reigns of King Rama IV and V.
In A.D. 1945 this temple was damaged during World War II; the Oridination Hall and the monks' quarters were in very bad shape, leaving only the Large Prang in front of the Hall which resembles the one at Wat Samplum. Other significant objects like images of the Buddha and the murals in the Hall were totally destroyed. The temple was deserted then. In A.D. 1948, some merchants and a group of people assisted in the renovation of the temple back to its original shape.
Wat Ratchaburana used used to be the residence of the great artist of the court of King Rama IV, Khrua Inkhong. He demonstrated his artistic talent in many other places beside this temple, for example, inside the Oridination Hall of Wat Bowonnivet and the Wihan Phra Khanthararat in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Important Buildings in the Temple
1. The Large Prang
The Large Prang which was built during the reign of King Rama III is decorated with coloured tiles.


The Large Prang

2. The Ordination Hall
This is newly erected with four tall protruding open pillared porches on a high base, and with boundary stones under cover. It is of the period of King Rama IX, the present reign and is very beautiful. The stucco decoration was designed and executed by Sanga Mayura who was one of the artists who painted the murals in the Ordination Hall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha during the reign of King Rama VII.


The Ordination Hall; newly erected with four tall protruding open pillared porches on a high base with boundary stones under cover. Gilded stucco on the Ordination Hall''s gable depicting Narai on his Suban


Information
: Tourism Authority of Thailand Tourist Service Center
: Hotel & Bungalows in Bangkok
: The Sights of Rattanakosin, The Committee for the Rattanakosin Bicentennial Celebration Published on the Occasion of the Bicentenary of Bangkok, 1982, P. 175-185.