Buddhist temple in Thailand are called Wats. There are four Wats within walking distance from our home and hundreds more across the countryside. They’re cool places to check out but once you’ve seen one, you’ve pretty much seen them all – That’s why Wat Rong Khun or the White Temple was so amazing to me – it’s like a young monk went up to the Master and said;
“Master, I’m tired of dragons, sequins and monkey armies – can’t we do something different this time? Maybe something with the Predator in it, and Batman and Neo from the Matrix. Maybe we could make bizarre sculptures of monsters holding cigarettes and hang heads from trees with plants vomiting out of their mouths. And maybe we could have thousands of disembodied arms reaching out from the ground to clutch at worshipers passing by.” — It’s not clear what the Master said but he apparently blessed the Grasshopper’s endeavor and Wat Rong Khun is the result.
The temple would fit right into Rout 66 resort architecture – the ones with giant hot dog buildings, dinosaurs or teepees — Not sure what the Buddha would say, I think Jesus would like it (after all he is into gargoyles and waking the dead) — I’m sure Mohammad would call it blasphemy , still, somehow it works well here.
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