Lodon Swaminathan in Bangkok Palace
Five headed Snake
Lodon swaminathan
Apsaras and Mythical Birds
Post No. 15,346
Date uploaded in Sydney, Australia – 19 January 2026
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My visit to Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand (Post No.15,346)
On 6th of January this year (2026), I went to the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The main attraction in the palace is the Emerald Buddha. Though it is called emerald Buddha, it is made up of semi -precious Jade stone. The height of the image is 66 CMS including the wooden base. Now the pamphlet published by the palace says it is of 15th century Thai workmanship. But the old story is that it was made in India and was taken to many countries including Sri Lanka, Laos and Cambodia. The interesting story about the image is the King of Thailand changes its attire thrice a year on a particular day. Buddha wears three different gem studded golden attires in Rainy, Summer and Winter seasons.
The Hall that houses the image is visited by millions of people every year. It is the holiest Buddha image in the country; apart from this one, there are two more gold plated large Buddha images of 3 metres height.
The grand palace was constructed in 1782 by one of the kings of Chakri dynasty. The Kings took the title of Rama and there have been ten Ramas so far. Now the present ruler is called Rama X. Each king added some new constructions or statues. It is on the banks of Chao Praya River like the previous capitals.
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The entrance fee is 500 Baht. But one must be decently dressed to go into the palace. Many westerners with exposed body parts and not decently dressed are stopped at the entrance and are asked to change the dress or fully cover the exposed parts. This is a good rule, also followed in the Mysuru palace in Karnataka, where even shoes are not permitted. They must walk bare footed inside the palace.
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The Bangkok palace is divided into many parts and all the buildings are shining in golden colour. Only statues are gold plated but the buildings used specially made golden mosaics from Italy.
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New statues excavated
In 2021 new statues were discovered when the road construction workers were digging the earth near the palace. Subsequent archaeological excavations revealed more sculptures. Historians say they came from China. Now they are placed in the courtyards of the temple of emerald buddha.
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Another interesting coincidence is the Tamil new year day and the Thai new year day is celebrated on the same day in April every year. This establishes the Hindu cultural connections.
One can see lot of images of Garuda, vahana of Vishnu, nagas/snakes, concrete replica of Angkor wat temple of Cambodia; there are golden coloured images of Asura Pakshi, Apsaras, Kinnara and Gandharva etc.
Annual royal ploughing ceremony is held with the help of Brahmin priests.
178 episodes of Ramayana !
The cloisters that include the temple buildings have walls that are painted with 178 episodes of Ramakien story as composed by Rama I and follows prince Rama’s story in clockwise progression from the north door of the cloister opposite the Phra vihara chapel. Its scenes depict gods and humans, monkeys and demons, life inside and outside the palace and cities while four legged animals, birds and mythical animals of the Himavanta forest abound in jungles, plains and oceans.
Ramayana Paintings in the Grand Palace
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MY OLD ARTICLES ON THAILAND
Sanskrit in Thailand (Post No.12,265)
Sanskrit in Thailand –2 (Post No.12,270)
https://tamilandvedas.com › tag › in-thailand
7 May 2018 — Thailand has got lot of Hindu sculptures from Ganesh to Kubera. Vedic gods Indra, Yama, Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma are also found in different …
https://tamilandvedas.com › tag › thailand
Thailand and Laos have different stories associated with it. In Thailand there lived a wise man who can speak with birds. His name was Dharmabarn (Dharma …
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6 May 2018 — Tamil and Vedas. A blog exploring themes in Tamil and vedic literature. RAMA IS GREEN, LAKSHMANA IS GOLDEN & …
Sanskrit in Thailand – Part 3 (Post No.12,281)July 16, 2023
–subham—
Tags- Emerald Buddha, Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand, King Rama X, Ramayana Paintings, London Swaminathan visit
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