Early modern · Buddhist · Thailand

Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)

วัดพระแก้ว

Grand Palace, Bangkok, Bangkok · 13.7515°, 100.4927°

Emerald BuddhaChakri (Rattanakosin)Rattanakosin
Sacred since
1782 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
1782–84 with the new capital
patron: Rama I

History & significance

Thailand's palladium: the 66 cm jadeite Buddha, discovered in 1434 when lightning split a Chiang Rai stupa, travelled through Lampang, Chiang Mai and two centuries in Laos before Rama I enshrined it in his new Bangkok. The King of Thailand himself changes its gold seasonal robes thrice yearly; no other hand may touch it. The surrounding gallery holds the 178-panel Ramakien — Thailand's Ramayana — in mural form.

Sthala katha — the legend

The image, legend claims, was fashioned in India by the gods' craftsman for the sage Nagasena, who prophesied it would carry Buddhism to five lands; wherever the Emerald Buddha resides, sovereignty and rain follow — which is why Laos and Siam contested it for centuries.

Reaching there

Grand Palace complex; strict dress code.

Official site ↗Open in Google Maps ↗Wikipedia ↗View on the atlas map

Related sites

Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)
Thonburi bank, Chao Phraya · Thailand
great prang raised under Rama II–III
Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha)
Bangkok · Thailand
rebuilt from 1788; Reclining Buddha 1832

Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Chakri (Rattanakosin)