In a country teeming with temples, Wat Boromracha Kanchanapisek Anurson in Nonthaburi stands out in terms of size, design and even cost. Built over a period of 12 years, the new Chinese temple cost close to Bt1 billion to complete, making it one of the costliest houses of worship in the country.

A Chinese Buddhist sect built the temple to help spread the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. It has a school that combines curricular subjects with Buddhists doctrine for Chinese-Thai novices.

Completed in March, Wat Boromracha sits on what was once a tiny vegetarian kitchen on a five-acre land belonging to the monks at the Yaowarat temple in Bangkok.

The plan for the biggest Chinese temple in the country was conceived when the facilities of Wat Mangkorn Kamalawat at Bangkok’s Chinatown proved inadequate for its growing number of monks, novices and worshippers.

In terms of architecture, Wat Boromracha is being compared to the imposing Forbidden City in Beijing. Drawing inspiration from the art of China’s Ming and Qing dynasties, the temple explodes in myriads of vibrant colors. Most of its construction materials, including the engraved granite columns, brass Buddha statues and carved wood murals, were handmade in China. The designs were coordinated by a team of Thai architects with a Chinese counterpart who has an impressive track record of designing numerous temples in China.

The whole structure is built on the lines of traditional Chinese architecture that sits within a walled compound fronted by an intricately engraved wooden entrance gate that leads to a spacious courtyard and a garden interrupted with somber but sometimes humorous rock statues as well as plant life endemic in a Chinese setting. The complex is divided into four levels.
The Jathulokabal Shrine Hall, fronting the main gate, is bordered by two towers; on one side is a giant drum and the other is flanked by a huge brass bell. Both objects came from Chaozhou in China.

Right behind Jathulokabal Shrine Hall is a marble walk leading to the main temple that houses three large Buddha images cast from brass, adjacent to which are the chief disciples of Mahayana Buddhism with an assortment of Buddhist saints and other religious icons. Worshippers gather here for merit-making and to offer donations to the temple. A recorded music of worship and chants accompany the visitors around the complex, adding a touch of solemnity to the whole process.

The third floor houses the amazing 1,000-handed Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva , a Guan Yin image that Chinese Buddhists revere as the Goddess of Compassion and is said to be the biggest teakwood sculpture in the world.

The Sukkavadi Meun Buddhasukkavadi Buddhakaset Hall on the fourth floor has walls decked with 10,000 small but glittering Buddha images – a real photographic treat.

The monastery, at the back side of the compound, is a multi-level building with figures of lucky animals deemed auspicious in Chinese mythology and elaborately carved beam-andbracket roof support.

On the building’s wooden doors are ornate engravings while its granite walls, ceilings and stone columns teem with multi-colored Chinese murals.

Wat Boromracha is located in the Bangbua-thong district, Nonthaburi.