Wat Saket

Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan (Thai: วัดสระเกศราชวรมหาวิหาร, usually shortened to Wat Saket is a Buddhist temple (wat) in Pom Prap Sattru Phai district. The temple dates back to the Ayutthaya era, when it was known as Wat Sakae. When Bangkok became the capital, King Rama I (1737 - 1809) renovated the temple and gave it its present name (which roughly translates as "wash hair"): it was believed that on his return from the war, the king stopped to take a bath and wash his hair here, before entering the inner city. Phu Khao Thong ("Golden Mountain") is a steep artificial hill inside the Wat Saket compound. Rama I's grandson, King Rama III (1788 - 1851), decided to build a chedi of huge dimensions inside Wat Saket, but the chedi collapsed during construction because the soft soil of Bangkok could not support the weight. Over the next few decades, the abandoned mud-and-brick structure acquired the shape of a natural hill and was overgrown with weeds. The locals called it the phu khao, as if it was a natural feature. During the reign of King Rama IV, construction began of a small chedi on the hill. It was completed early in the reign of his son, King Rama V (1853 - 1910). A relic of the Buddha was brought from Sri Lanka by Prince Pritsadang and placed in the chedi. The surrounding concrete walls were added in the 1940s to stop the hill from eroding. Phu Khao Thong is now a popular Bangkok tourist attraction and has become a symbol of the city.