We went to Bangkok for a short holiday from 29 July to 2 August 2008.
We visited the Grand Palace, Ayuththaya ruined city, Temples of Golden Buddha, Emerald Buddha, and the Reclining Buddha. The golden Buddha Statue is made of five and half Tons of 24 K gold.
Reclining Buddha Statue is 46 meters long and 15 meters high. This gold-plated Buddha image depicts the Buddha’s passing into Nirvana. It’s highly ornate and a genuine spectacle – genuinely worth seeing. The Buddha image’s eyes and feet are decorated with mother-of-pearl and carvings in the feet depict the ‘108’ characteristics of Buddha.
Emerald Buddha is 160 cm (5 ft and 4 inches) high, made of green jade.
The trip to Ayuththaya by bus and the return by river cruise is absolutely great. Thai people are very polite. As you enter a shop they will welcome you or greet you with the Buddhist tradition of bringing two hands together and when you leave too they again repeat it.
The country is clean and beautiful and the amazing thing in Bangkok is you will hardly see old people and all are young beautiful girls and boys everywhere in the city of Bangkok.
A must see country by Buddhists.
According to legend, the Emerald Buddha was created in India in 43 BC by the sculptor Nagasena in the city of Pataliputra (today Patna in the state of Bihar). The legends state that after remaining in Pataliputra for three hundred years, it was taken to Sri Lanka to save it from a civil war. In 457 CE, King Anuruth of Burma sent a mission to Ceylon to ask for Buddhist scriptures and the Emerald Buddha, in order to support Buddhism in his country. These requests were granted, but the ship lost its way in a storm during the return voyage and landed in Cambodia. When the Thais captured Angkor Wat, the Emerald Buddha moved to Ayutthaya, Kamphaeng Phet, Laos and finally to Chiang Rai, where the ruler of the city hid it. However, some art historians describe the Emerald Buddha as belonging to the Chiang Saen Style of the 15th Century AD, which would mean it is actually of Lannathai origin. The Emerald Buddha is adorned with garments made of gold. There are three different sets of gold clothing, which are changed by the King of Thailand in a ceremony at the changing of the seasons. The three sets of gold garments correspond to Thailand's hot season, rainy season, and cool season
