Reclining Buddha

Reclining Buddha

Wat Pho
If you ever find yourself in Bangkok - don't you dare miss Wat Pho! Not only is it home to the HUGE reclining Buddha (left) - which sticks out in my mind as one of the first National Geographic photos I can remember for some reason - but it is right next door to the Grand Palace, and in my opinion has almost as much to offer. Lovely architecture, three distinctive tall pagodas, a temple to each of the "day" Buddhas, as well as other Buddha images that encircle the main temple.

For the "day" Buddhas - I didn't know this before - but in Thailand there is a folk belief in a particular Buddha pose for each day of the week. The faithful typically visit the Buddha at the Wat that is in the pose for the day of the week on which they were born. A snip of internet research on this practice by the Thais: From very early times, Thai Buddhists assigned traditional styles and attitudes of Buddha images to specific days of the week. A devotee might keep in their house or work place the image assigned to his/her birth day of the week. This is purely folk belief. The images attitude or posture portray different events in the Buddha's life. Not representing a specific day of the week: "Victory over Mara" sitting in meditation, fingers touching the earth.