It is not the golden Buddha but the real gold Buddha. Thailand has many temples housing giant golden statues of Buddha but Wat Traimit houses a giant statue of Buddha made of pure gold. Although the statue is several centuries old, its identity was only revealed only 67 years ago. In 1955, an ancient statue of Buddha was being enshrined in Wat Traimit. While lifting the statue one of the ropes broke sending the statues crushing to the floor. As a result of the crash the small portion of the plaster encasing the statue peeled off revealing a solid gold statue.
Today, Wat Traimit, located at the edge of Bangkok’s Chinatown, is one of the most visited temples of Bangkok. Today, the golden (not gold) spire of the temple still dominates the skyscraper-infested skyline of Bangkok. Apart from the gold statue (housed on the top floor), the temple houses a Chinatown museum known as Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Center or Wat Traimit Museum (second floor) and a Gold Buddha statue exhibition (third floor).
The Chinatown museum narrates the history of Bangkok’s Chinatown through various models and write-ups. It displays the evolution of Chinese trade and settlement right up to the present day. The Gold Buddha exhibition narrates the history of the statue. Several models with detailed write-ups explain the process of the casting of the giant statue.
The top floor houses the star attraction of the temple, the giant gold Buddha statue. The seated Buddha is in Subduing Mara Mudra (Bhumisparsha) posture and towers to a height of 3m (9.8 ft) and weighs a staggering 5.5 tonnes.
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