Bangkok, Bangkok · 13.7465°, 100.4933°
Bangkok's oldest and largest wat: the 46 m gold-leafed Reclining Buddha entering nirvana, feet inlaid with 108 mother-of-pearl auspicious signs. Rama III turned the cloisters into an open university — over a thousand inscriptions of medicine, massage and letters, now in UNESCO's Memory of the World — making Wat Pho the cradle of traditional Thai massage, still taught on site.
Dropping 108 coins in the 108 bronze bowls along the great image's back, pilgrims count off the Buddha's virtues — merit made audible, coin by coin, down the length of the sleeping giant.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Chakri (Rattanakosin)