Haven in a City

It was a hot day- the hottest of our trip, it now turns out. Though it had not been half the day yet, we still arrived at Wat Pho hot and bothered. Stepping off our tuk-tuk, we looked up to a small, unimposing gateway. Behind it lay Wat Pho and, more famously, the Reclining Buddha. If there were two things a tourist brochure would tell you to see, this would be one of them. Kids played in the courtyard as we stepped through what turned out to be a bit of a side gate. Tourists milled around the ticket counter, waiting to buy the 50B (app US$1.25)ticket. Standing by the side of the main building, a commonplace structure, you could see glimpses of glowing gold through its meshed windows.

Before we knew it we were standing barefoot in the ordinary looking hall, quiet and still. In front of us lay the expectedly gigantic Buddha. Expecting it did not quite make it predictable, though. You’d think knowing you were going to see the biggest reclining Buddha would prepare you for the instinctive staring and gushing, but you’d most likely be wrong. For one thing, its huge- rendering the mundane structure that houses it completely irrelevant. For another, it glows in a slightly surreal way. It felt warm and quietening and cool at the same time, standing there.

Then we started hearing repetitive clanging sounds- one after the other, and overlapping as well. Just round the corner from the mother of pearl feet of the Buddha we saw people in an orderly, slow-moving file. They were dropping coins into metal containers lined up along the wall, maybe 50 or more of them. For a moment I thought that the 20B you paid to get the coins to throw into the buckets was slightly meaningless and just a mildly imaginative way of getting something for the renovation fund. But I stopped myself almost before the thought could form itself completely- nobody was forcing you, nobody even asked you.. but we still felt like doing it.

Yet, if the Reclining Buddha dominates Wat Pho, it shouldn’t. Stepping out, we spent the better part of two hours in its rambling grounds- stupas, temples and Buddha images everywhere you look, and especially where you don’t. In one of the wihaan, we were lucky enough to witness a monk initiation ceremony (though I’m not sure if that’s exactly how its described). It was peaceful and captivating, with the young monk’s family in rapt attendance.

There was a “nothing yet much” feeling about that time. I can easily see people saying there is little to see besides the famous figure that Wat Pho is home to, but I would tell them to give it just a few minutes. Walking around through doors and gates and corridors you could chance upon small treasures and quiet moments. We did, and it leaves the visit to Wat Pho as a cherished one in our minds.