Bangkok; Day 1, Part 2 – Wat Arun

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 “Best part of beauty is that which no picture can express”. Francis Bacon

 

Meru

William Butler Yeats

Civilisation is hooped together, brought

Under a rule, under the semblance of peace

By manifold illusion, but man's life is thought,

And he, despite his terror, cannot cease

Ravening through century after century,

Ravening, raging, and uprooting that he may come

Into the desolation of reality:

Egypt and Greece, good-bye, and good-bye, Rome!

Hermits upon Mount Meru or Everest,

Caverned in night under the drifted snow,

Or where that snow and winter's dreadful blast

Beat down upon their naked bodies, know

That day bring round the night, that before dawn

His glory and his monuments are gone.

*****

After the gilded glory of the Grand Palace which had about 35 structures, we stepped out of the palace grounds and headed towards the Grand Pier to catch a ferry across the iconic river Chao Phraya. We had lunch at ICE YEN, a cosy café near the pier. The food was fresh, delicious, healthy, satisfying and affordable with a world of options.


Thereafter, we took the tickets costing just 5 Baht (it was about 10 then and now 12 rupees) each one way. It literary took less than 5 minutes to get across to Wat Arun, the iconic symbol of Bangkok old city. The temple stood majestically on the banks of river Chao Phraya. For me, this was it, because I had seen it so many times in some of the romantic Thai series. It represented that world of happy emotions where the couple enjoyed their best moments and I for one, can imagine myself across time and place to live that experience. I wanted to see the place lighted up and I tried to catch a view from across the river almost on all the nights we stayed in the old city. One of the nights, we (I and SIL) were totally drenched but it was worth catching a glimpse of Wat Arun’s Golden glow at night. It is truly mesmerizing.



Papa and mamma were tired from the walk inside the Grand Palace, so they decided to rest and enjoy the view from outside and we three decided to go in (200 Baht per person). It was a different ambience inside as the place was full of traditionally dressed locals and foreigners. Most of them were enjoying their photo ops. Apparently, there are rental shops around which dress you in Thai traditional outfit and do the complete make up for a reasonable amount. Perhaps you can also buy an outfit for keepsake. It looks very pretty.

Wat Arun, a Buddhist temple(wat) literally means ‘The Temple of Dawn’ and derives its name from the Hindu god Arun, who is the charioteer of Surya (the sun god). The compound had many beautiful traditional structures, including the entrance which was quite grand and guarded by two guardian figures, Sahassa Deja and Thotsakan (Ravana) from the Ramakien, ‘Glory of Rama’, Thai version of the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. The pagoda or stupa design of Wat Arun symbolize Mount Meru which is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmology. So, in a sense, we literary climbed halfway to Swarga 'Abode of gods'/heaven that day! or somewhere in the Greek mythological world, climbed Mount Olympus!

The upper stage or the prang of the temple was closed to ordinary mortals. >_<

The place has a beautifully manicured and sculpted garden around the temple along the river. Perfect for insta-reels and photos. Everyone was doing just that. We walked along admiring the grandeur and the imagination of the architects and sculptors who made this beautiful structure. Although, it reminded me of Yeat’s Meru for a brief moment, but I was grateful for the mere mortals who imagined and brought this place to reality. Standing somewhere between mythology and history, the whole place evoked pure awe and magic. No matter how brief or winding our sojourn of life is going to be, let us be kind to each other and enjoy the greatness and wonder around us. It doesn’t take much to be happy all the time, but a painful amount of time and energy is wasted to be grumpy in general or at things and people. And the choice is always ours…

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