Sawasdee Krab! As I promised on the previous post, now we're going to explore Wat Arun (through pictures, lol). Our tour guide said, "You haven't gone to Thailand, if you haven't visited Wat Arun." When you are in Bangkok, Wat Arun is one of the iconic destinations you must visit. Located on the Thonburi west bank of Chao Phraya, Wat Arun is also known to locals as Temple of Dawn (Wat means temple, Arun means dawn). It's named after Aruna, a Hindu God who was believed to be the embodiment of the rising sun’s reddish glow. 

   Wat Arun is one of the most beautiful temples with a lot of intricate details. I think it's different than the common temple design. It has a really pretty floral design, really fresh and lovely. The main feature of Wat Arun is its central prang (a tall spire) that 70 meters tall and surrounded by four smaller satellite prang. It's all decorated by seashells and porcelain  that came from China as ballast on the trade ships.

   We could take the stairs to get to the center of the prang, there is a fence for you to hold because the stairs to the top are quite steep. The central prang is said to symbolize the mountain to the house of the Gods in Hindu cosmology, the physical and spiritual center of nature with a tiered design that resembles stairs to the sky. Around the center of the prang there are also statues of soldiers and animals.