This article has been curated by Simarpreet Kaur and Akansha Agarwal, who are students of BTEC HND Course in Interior Design at ARCH.
What comes to you mind when you see the pictures? A fairy land, a movie set or a different world altogether. No my child. None of the above.
You must have guessed by the title, it’s a temple, to be specific, a Buddhist temple. Bewildered?
Let us take you through the mind of a crazy, bizarre design thinker who had the courage to design this masterpiece. He is a local visual artist named Chalermchai Kosipipat. Wat Rong Khun also known as “the white temple” is located outside the town of Chiang Rai in Thailand. It’s one of the most visited temple of the city (obviously). Restoration of the temple started in year 1997. It was funded by the the artist himself. He has spent THB 40 millions of his own money on this project.
The major colour used is white to signify the purity of Buddha. A fascinating thing about this temple is that every structure has a reason of existence. You enter the temple and BOOM!
The journey to bizarre world begins…
THE BRIDGE OF “the cycle of rebirth”
The main building of the temple is reached by crossing a small lake. See the picture above? Yup that’s the bridge. Thousands of hands protruding symbolize desire.
THE GATE OF HEAVEN
This images are of the principle gate which is guarded by two gigantic creatures, Death and Rahu.
THE UBOSOT
This is the ubosot or ordination hall. Here murals of many old temples depict scenes from Buddhist stories. The walls of this building contain colourful murals that depict modern representations of good and evil.
This temple takes the modernism to another level. The murals here include contemporary figures like batman, superman and elvis, villains and superheroes from movies and comics and even spaceship.
We are sure this bit of information spiked up the interest of your nerdy selves to see the pictures of the insides.
Sorry folks! To see the amazing and quirky interiors of ubosot you will have to visit the temple yourself, as taking pictures is not allowed inside.
The structure is open year round. Admission for Thai residents is free and foreigners are required to pay 50 bhat.
Wat Rong Khun or the white temple is indeed a contemporary and unconventional exhibit of tremendous creativity and will power of artist Chalermchai Kosipipat.
A design thinker. Isn’t he!