Wat Arun at Sunset

• Great Cultural Monuments
• 528

Thailand holds tens of thousands of Buddhist temples, but none as famous as Wat Arun, the beautiful “temple of the dawn” in the capital city of Bangkok.

The exact age of Wat Arun is unknown, but it dates back at least to the 1600s, during the era of the country’s Ayutthaya Kingdom. The iconic spires– or prongs— were not added until the reign of King Rama II in the nineteenth century. The tallest spire is a symbol for Mount Meru, the center of the Buddhist universe. It stands over 260 feet tall. Visitors to the temple can climb the central prong via a series of steep steps, for a beautiful view of surrounding Bangkok.

This eScapes video features Wat Arun at sunset, as seen from across the adjacent Chao Phraya River. Though the site’s nickname, “Temple of the Dawn,” alludes to Arun, the Hindu personification of dawn, the best time to see the temple is actually in the glow of the sunset.

Jean-Luc Ponty is a jazz and rock violinist who has been instrumental in expanding the role of the violin in modern music. Torn between orchestral performance and jazz at a young age, Ponty chose to solely pursue jazz and released a debut album at the age of 22. Since then, Ponty has become a popular act in jazz and rock, performing solo and collaborating with other artists on worldwide tours.

Links

Tourism Authority of Thailand
Bangkok Tourism Division
Wikipedia article: Wat Arun
Jean-Luc Ponty Official Site