Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)
Named for Aruna — the Hindu charioteer who drives the sun at dawn — this riverside spire was built to face the light it honors.
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Older than Bangkok itself, Wat Arun once held the Emerald Buddha and stood within the royal palace grounds under King Taksin. After the palace and the Emerald Buddha crossed the river in the 1780s, the temple was abandoned, then restored. Its central prang — 70 meters tall — took nine years and two reigns to finish, completed in 1851 under Rama III.
What to look for
- The 70-meter central prang (spire), nine years under construction, finished 1851 — the defining shape of the Bangkok skyline from the river
- Hindu and Buddhist symbolism fused throughout: the temple's name honors Aruna, charioteer of the sun god Surya, not a Buddhist figure
- The east bank of the Chao Phraya directly opposite — both the royal palace and the Emerald Buddha were relocated there in the 1780s, leaving this bank quieter
Sits on Thonburi's west bank — cross the Chao Phraya by river ferry to reach it.
Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) is one of 38 sights worth the detour in Bangkok, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Bangkok pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Bangkok
- Grand PalaceIn 1782 a king moved his entire capital from Thonburi to Bangkok and built this walled city — Thailand's seat of power for the next 143 years.
- Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)Every Thai king since 1783 has personally added to this temple — and the reigning king still presides over state ceremonies here today.
- Baiyoke Tower IIBangkok's tallest hotel stacks an observatory, a bar, and a revolving roof deck across three floors at 309 metres.
- BTS SkytrainBangkok sits in chronic gridlock — three elevated lines run above it on 70 kilometers of track connecting the city end to end.
- Rajamangala National StadiumThailand's largest stadium swells like a concrete wave — narrow at each end, rising steeply until the stands crest exactly at the halfway line.
- Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)A 46-metre reclining Buddha fills an entire hall — and this same temple invented traditional Thai massage.