Thailand's largest chedi is located in Nakhon Pathom
In Nakhon Pathom, 60 kilometers west of Bangkok, you will not meet many foreigners. However, it is a nice city, where there is still a lot to do and see.
A nice day trip, that is Nakhon Pathom. Or a relaxing stop on the way to Kanchanaburi. You can get there by taxi, minibus, bus or even by train. The target? A visit to Phra Pathom Chedi, the largest chedi of Thailand. The structure, completely covered in gilded tiles, is no less than 127 meters high.
In a not so gray past, at the beginning of our era, Nakhon must have been located on the Gulf of Siam, but the silting up turned the fishermen into rice farmers. The city's low location is evidenced by the fact that Nakhon Pathom (First City) was hit hard by the latest floods. On various walls of buildings you can still see how high the water was there.
More than 2300 years ago, the port city came into contact with Buddhism through Indian merchants. The large chedi is therefore also one of the oldest and largest Theravada temples in Asia. Albeit not in this form. The foundations of the current chedi date from the sixth century, but it is almost certain that there was a shrine here before that.
Then came the Burmese in the 17th century, who partially destroyed the temple. King Rama 4 Mongkut started rebuilding in the first half of the 19th century. The Phra Pathom is an impressive structure and it is worth walking all the way around it. There are also remains of former sanctuaries. Remains of old chedis can also be found elsewhere in the city, as if nobody cares about that.
In the inner ring at the base of the chedi, texts in Pali depict the history of Buddha. On the outside dozens of statues of Buddha, with one exception. I think it is a large phallus, fanatically worshiped by the Hindus. According to my supervisor it is an enlarged edition of an old stylus.
The great chedi is in all tourist guides, that is much less the case with the Parat Cha Wang, the royal park next to Silipakorn University. It is full of palaces and country houses, some so ugly with (European) gaudyness that they almost become beautiful.
Chedi is a beautiful sight, in addition to the royal park, I would like to recommend the rose garden; it is a pity that it is not in bloom now, but nevertheless beautifully situated on the river, with lakes / fountains, beautiful lanes with trees and authentic Thai houses.
The cultural show is not to be missed, not highly cultural, but nice to see elephants are not missing either.
Well worth it, a disadvantage from bangkok about the perkasem rd, that's a disaster,
Eternal and always traffic jam, you have been warned an hour from bangkok to nakhon pthom
to come, j
We drove there from Cha Am/Hua Hin at the end of January with the whole family on the way to Kanchanaburi, which was great.
It is very easy to go by train.
It is within walking distance of the chedi.
With the Saturday / Sunday trip to Kanchanaburi with the excursion train you also stop there.
By car is fine if you leave around 10 a.m.
There are also minibuses so transportation should not be a problem.
I was there 20 years ago and thought the Chedi was beautiful. That was still by train from Thonburi Railway station. How much would it cost approximately to go there again, but then by taxi, from the Silom area? And does the train still go from Thonburi Railway Station?