‘Wat’ in Pattaya

 

In Pattaya there are thousands of temples present in the city. They are called ‘wat’. The temples sometimes vary in structure and style but as a whole according to Buddhist principle and culture all the wat should have a bot ora ubosot, a wihan, a sala kanparie, a mondop, chedi, a ho rakang or belfry, and kuti. Sometimes the wat have a library, a school and a library. Bot is used for religious ceremonies e.g. ordinations. Wihan is the house of several Buddha images and also laypersons. Sala kanparien is a large meeting hall used for religious services and also as a civic and social center. Mondop is used for storing the Buddhist scriptures. Then comes the chedi, it is used for housing sacred relics or images. A ho rakang or belfry is used to sound the time for ceremonies and prayers, etc. Last but not the least kuti is the place where the monks live.

In most of the cases it has been seen that ‘Wat’ is not a single but a collection of buildings. Shrines and monuments are there within a boundary of the wall. In the bot, new monks take vows. A bot is characterized as having six boundary stones and this defines the limit of the sanctuary. Only monks are allowed to enter in the bot. the building usually faces the east direction. There is horn shaped finial present in the roof ridge, this is called chofa. This represents the head of the garuda. Chofahs are decorated like birds. These are present on the end temple roofs. Little bells are there which tinkle in the wind. Chedi is tall domed edifice. Under this structure relics of Buddha or religious teachers are buried. A mondop or mandapa is a structure which has been erected with the Buddhist scripts.

The name of the library is ‘Ho Trai’. This is a small and decorated building where the holy scripts and sacred manuscripts are kept inside. The sermon hall is known as ‘Viharn’. This place in a wat is open to all and that is why the busiest building. The visitors should behave properly while visiting the place. In Viharn also you can see lots of Buddha images. Sala is a open sided pavilion in which style Viharn are made of. As a whole it can be said that wat is a beautiful structure and you cannot stop praising it wholeheartedly.