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ThailandThe article tells about one of the most important royal temples of Bangkok, Wat Mahatat, which, for all its importance, is little visited and almost unknown among mass tourists. You will find out what is interesting about this temple and how it stands out among others, as well as whether it is worth visiting or whether it is worth leaving the visit for later. Well, if something remains unclear or you just want to talk about a holiday in Thailand or share your experience, we invite you to our 💬 Thailand travel chat.
Description and is it worth a visit
Mahatat Yuwarajarangsarit Temple (Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit, completely Wat Mahathat Yuwarat Rangsarit Ratchawora Maha Wihan) is one of the most important and oldest temples in Bangkok, one of the top ten royal temples of Thailand, founded to store one of the Buddhist relics. There is also a Vipassana meditation center (Vipassana).
However, this temple is almost unknown among tourists and is rarely visited by guests of the capital, although it is located very conveniently in the heart of the historical district of the city: not far from the Royal Palace and within walking distance from the tourist street Khao San Road. Most likely, its low popularity is due to the fact that it is lost in the shadow of other more interesting and more architecturally refined temples in the area. To be honest, we ourselves finally visited this temple during about our tenth trip to Bangkok, although we had passed by it many times before.
The Mahathat Temple really does not stand out for any architectural elements either outside or in the interior, it looks rustic. It is almost invisible from the street, its buildings are hidden behind a fence and other temple buildings, apparently for economic purposes. Inside the main viharna there is a large statue of a gilded Buddha, and around the perimeter of the complex you can see several small snow-white stupas and rows of statues of golden sitting Buddhas familiar to important royal temples. The entire tour of the temple, unless you decide to do meditation here, will take no more than 10 minutes.
A little history of the temple
The Mahatat temple appeared in the period of the Ayutthaya kingdom (from the XIV to the XVIII century), but the exact date is unknown, at least we could not find such information. It was originally called Wat Salak. After the capital of the Kingdom was moved to Bangkok, the temple turned out to be very well located between the newly built Large Royal Palace and the Viceroy's residence, and then it acquired the status of royal and was used for royal ceremonies and funerals. In 1803, it was renamed Wat Mahathat, and it received its current full name Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit only in 1996.
Next to the Mahatat temple there is another very interesting, but also little visited by tourists place – a large amulet market. We advise you to combine the trip to these two places.
🕐 Working hours
From 07:30 to 18:00, seven days a week.
💵Entrance fee / ticket price
Free of charge.
🚶 How to get there
Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit Temple is located in Bangkok's historic district a few minutes from the Grand Royal Palace, the main entrance is from Maha Rat Street (temple on the map).
To get here from the main tourist area khaosan Road, the easiest way is to walk, walk about one and a half kilometers or 20 minutes. It is better to use a navigator or maps for this, since for this you will have to cross the very busy Somdet Phra Pin Klao street at a pedestrian crossing with a traffic light near the Golden Jubilee Memorial, or under a bridge near the Chaopraya River, there is no other way to cross.
From other parts of Bangkok, you can get here by city buses. There are quite a few bus routes to the final stop near the famous monument World War I Volunteer, from where the market is only 10 minutes away. To determine which bus to take, you can use the route construction on Google maps or the ViaBus app.
If you prefer the subway, then you can't get directly to the temple on it, it's not in this area yet. But you can take the subway to the Saphan Taksin skytrain station, there go to the Sathorn boat pier along the Chaopraya River, and from there by regular boat to the Tha Maharaj pier right next to the temple.
Learn more about you can read how to use Bangkok public transport in a separate article.
Friends, we remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Bangkok with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at options with online booking and reviews on these excursion aggregators: