The “Temple of the Holy Jewel Image,” or as it is commonly known, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, is the royal chapel and probably the shrine most revered by the Thai people. It sits within the grounds of the Grand Palace, surrounded by walls more than a mile long, and contains some of the finest examples of Buddhist sculpture, architecture, painting, and decorative craft in the country.
Central to the wat is the Emerald Buddha itself, a rather small, dark statue, a little more than .6m (2 ft.) tall, made of green jasper or perhaps jadeite (”emerald” in Thai refers to intense green color, not the specific stone) that sits atop a huge gold altar. Legend says it came from Sri Lanka, but most art historians believe that it was sculpted in the 14th century in northern Thailand, as it is in the Chiang Saen (Lanna Thai) style. (Part of its mystery arises because no one is allowed near it, save the king.) This much-venerated image is said to have once been covered with plaster and gold leaf and kept inside a chedi (stupas or mounds) in Chiang Rai. After the monument was damaged in a storm in 1434, the image needed to be moved to another location. As it was being transported, it was dropped and the plaster broke away. The reigning king of Chiang Mai, at the time the most powerful state in the north, tried to bring the Buddha to his city, but on three separate occasions the elephant that was to transport the statue stopped at the same spot at a crossroads in Lampang. Not one to offend the spirit of the Buddha, the king built a monumental wat at that spot in Lampang, where it remained for 32 years.
A more determined monarch, King Tiloka, insisted that the Emerald Buddha be brought to Chiang Mai, where it was housed in the Wat Chedi Luang until 1552, when Laotian invaders took the image back to Luang Prabang. Twelve years later, the statue was moved again, this time to Vientiane, Laos, where it stayed for 214 years, until General Chakri (later King Rama I) brought it back to the capital at Thonburi after his successful campaign in Laos. In 1784, when he moved the capital across the river to Bangkok, Rama I installed the precious figure in its present shrine, where it has remained, a tangible symbol of the Thai nation. It’s feared that removal of the image from Bangkok will signify the end of the Chakri dynasty.
The Buddha, like many others in Thailand, is covered in a seasonal cloak, changed three times a year to correspond to the summer, winter, and rainy months. The changing of the robes is an important ritual, performed by the king, who also sprinkles water over the monks and well-wishers to bring good fortune during the upcoming season.
The Emerald Buddha is housed in an equally magnificent bot (the central shrine in a Buddhist temple), used by monks for important religious rituals. The interior walls are decorated with late Ayutthaya-style murals depicting the life of the Buddha, steps to enlightenment, and the Buddhist cosmology of the Worlds of Desire, Being, and Illusion. The cycle begins with the birth of the Buddha, which can be seen in the middle of the left wall as you enter the sanctuary, and the story continues counterclockwise. Also note the exquisite inlaid mother-of-pearl work on the door panels.
The surrounding portico of the bot is an example of masterful Thai craftsmanship. On the perimeter are 12 open pavilions, built during the reign of Rama I. The inside walls of the compound are decorated with murals depicting the entire Ramakien, the Thai national epic, painted during the reign of Rama I and last restored in 1982, in 178 scenes beginning at the north gate and continuing clockwise.
Subsequent kings built more monuments and restored or embellished existing structures. Among the most interesting of these are the three pagodas to the immediate north of the ubosoth, representing the changing centers of Buddhist influence: The first, to the west, is Phra Si Ratana Chedi, a 19th-century Sri Lankan-style stupa housing ashes of the Buddha; second, in the middle is the library, or Phra Mondop, built in Thai style by Rama I, known for its excellently crafted Ayutthaya-style mother-of-pearl doors, bookcases containing the Tripitaka (sacred Buddhist manuscripts), human- and dragon-headed nagas (snakes), and statues of Chakri kings; and third, to the east, is the Royal Pantheon, built in Khmer style during the 19th century — it’s open to the public in October for 1 day to commemorate the founding of the Chakri dynasty.
To the immediate north of the library is a model of Angkor Wat, the most sacred of all Cambodian shrines, the model constructed by King Mongkut as a reminder that the neighboring state was under the dominion of Thailand. To the west of the bot, near the entry gate, is a black stone statue of a hermit, considered a patron of medicine, before which relatives of the ill and infirm pay homage and make offerings of joss sticks, fruit, flowers, and candles.
Scattered around the complex are statues of elephants, thought to represent independence and power. Thai kings went to battle atop elephants, and it is customary for parents to walk their children around an elephant three times to bring them strength. You can rub the head of an elephant statue for good luck, and notice how smooth it is from the touch of millions.