Golden Buddha

Golden Buddha Statue in Bangkok

(Thailand)

Golden Buddha - is the world's largest statue made of pure gold, which is the temple of Wat TRIME (Bangkok). It weighs 5.5 tons and height - 3 meters. At the rate of $ 1,400 per troy ounce Golden Buddha is estimated at 250 million US dollars.

On the origin of the statue, which is now a popular tourist attraction, is currently unknown. Scientists were able to establish only that it was made during the reign of Sukhothai dynasty (XIII-XIV century), but also not overlooked the possibility that gold statue was cast later. It belongs to the time of existence of the treasures of medieval Sukhothai Thai state indicates egg-shaped head of the statue, which is characteristic for Thai sculptures of the period. In the golden Buddha statue looked through the elements of Indian culture, so also it is possible that the famous statue was cast in some parts of India, and then it moved to Thailand.

At some point, the golden statue decided to completely hide from the eyes of thieves. It completely hid a thick layer of colored plaster inlaid with pieces of colored glass. It is believed that this "masking" was held before the fall of the kingdom of Ayutthaya to prevent the ingress of statues in the hands of the Burmese invaders. Made of solid gold statue has long been among the ruins of Ayutthaya, without attracting any attention.

In 1801, the first king of Thailand Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I), Bangkok announcing new capital of the kingdom, he ordered that found in the ruins of a Buddha statue should be should be moved to Thailand. During the reign of King Rama III (1824-1851) statue, still remaining in the plaster, was installed in the center of the temple Wat Khunaram.

Over time, Wat Khunaram fell into disrepair and was closed, and the Golden Buddha in 1935, was taken to the nearby Wat TRIME, where he remains today. Like most of the other temples of Thailand, pagoda of Wat TRIME was small, and there simply was no room to place it in a huge statue of Buddha. More than twenty years golden statue was kept under a tin roof. The true identity of this statue has not been disclosed nearly 200 years.

Finally, in 1954, was built a new building, where he placed the Golden Buddha. At its new location, it was moved 25 May 1955, and there are many versions of what happened next. One thing is clear - when the statue tried to raise from the pedestal, the rope broke and the statue fell to the floor. At the same time, some broke some plaster, behind which was the visible surface of the gold statue.

All pieces of plaster and carefully removed during this process had to take photographs, which today can be seen by visitors Wat TRIME.