Wat Benchamabophit Dusitwanaram

West side of the Ordination Hall with Dvaravati Buddha image niche. The pillars are round with lotus capitals. At both sides of stairways there are two marble singhas

When King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) built Dusit Palace, he pulled down two temples: Wat Dusit and a deserted temple, intending to build others in their place. In order not to build many temples thus wasting money, he decided to build one on a grand scale. Prince Naris was assigned to the job of planning the monastery containing features which are quite different from what one usually sees in other monasteries. The Ordination Hall was faced with marble. King Rama V was so pleased when it was finished that he wrote to the Prince: "I never flatter anyone but I can not help saying that you captured my heart in accomplishing such beauty as this". He named the temple Wat Benchamabophit, meaning the Monastery of the Five Kings.
King Rama V wished the temple to be the centre for the study of Dharma, as well as other subjects with its attached school, library and musuem. The construction of the whole temple compound was completed during the reign of King Rama VI.
Important Objects in the Temple
1. The Ordination Hall
2. Phra Wihan Somdej
3. Phra-Thinang Song Phanuat
4. Phra-Thinang Song Tham
5. The Four-Somdej Pavilion
6. The Bowonwong Bell-Tower

At both sides of stairways there are two marble singhas


One of the three bridges named "Saphan Phra Rup"


The library and musuem building

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Information
Tourism Authority of Thailand Tourist Service Center
Hotel & Bungalows in Bangkok
: The Sights of Rattanakosin, The Committee for the Rattanakosin Bicentennial Celebration Published on the Occasion of the Bicentenary of Bangkok, 1982, P. 175-185.