Essay: The Grand Palace in Bangkok

The grand palace is a historical architectural figure located in Bangkok, Thailand. Built in 1782, Grand Palace has a unique design that makes it extremely attractive to tourist as well asmeeting organizers. The building is located close to Chao Phraya River, bordered by Sanamchai Road to the east, Na Phra Lan Road to the north and Thai Wang Road to the south making it reachable by multiple means . Grand Palace occupies 218, 400 sq. Meters with massive walls surrounding it to the tune of 1900 meters high, making it one of the most secure buildings in Bangkok. As opposed to being a single structure, the palace is made of several buildings, pavilions, halls, courtyards, and gardens. The massive figure was commissioned by the founder of Chakri Dynasty, King Rama I. the 1785 official opening of the Grand Palace saw the rebirth of Thailand just after dealing with the aftermaths of the Burmese invasion. Since then, the Grand Palace is the center of religion and leadership in the Thai nation . The palace is regarded as a sacred place for the people of Thailand who visits the temples located at the palace. The palace also hosts some temples having the most sacred Buddhist golden sculptures. As a center of leadership, several royal families have resided in the Grand Palace making it be highly associated with leadership.
As a center of religion, the Grand Palace houses Wat Phra Kaeo, the highest regarded of Thai religious art and one of the holiest Buddhist crown in Thailand. Located in the northern corner of the grand palace, the religious figure regarded as a private royal temple houses one of the most important Buddhist images, Emerald Buddha. Inside the passageway entryways, you’re stood up to by 6m-tall yaksha, bombastic demons from the Ramayana, who watch over the Emerald Buddha from each door of the sanctuary and ward off malice spirits. Crowds assemble at this holy place to appease the object of national veneration and pay respect to Buddha together with his teachings . The master of demons, green, ten-confronted Totsagan, stands to one side of the passage at the region in the southwest edge of the golden Phra Si Ratana Chedi. The toothless old codger   made with bronze and sitting on a plinth quickly inside the entryways by the back mass of the bot, which stands for Hindu hermit credited with coming up with yoga as well as herbal medicine. Before him is a huge pounding stone where medicine men could come to grind their concoctions with enhanced power of the medicine. As a sacred and religious place, visitors to the Grand Palace as always requested to dress as appropriate as such for a religious place. Visitors with unsuitable garments are always given garments at the entrance of the palace so as to dress appropriately for the sacred palace.
The Chapel built in remembrance of Gandhara Buddha also depicts the Grand Palace as a center of religion. Close to the passage to the bot, in the region around the south east of the sanctuary area, impeccable parcels, fish, and turtles painted in gold color on the blue glass on the entryways and walls of Chapel of the Gandhara Buddha are seen . The beautifications symbolize the fruitfulness of the rice fields, as this building was pivotal to the old illustrious rainmaking custom is still used in the Royal Plowing Ceremony. Embellishing the rooftop are many nagas (serpents), symbolizing water; inside the closed church, among the gear utilized as a part of the ritual, is kept the Gandhara Buddha, a bronze picture in the signal of calling down the down pour with its right hand, while measuring the left to catch it. In times of dry spell, the King would arrange a week-long rainmaking function to be led, amid which he was frequently washed and avoided the opposite sex while Buddhist monks, as well as Hindu Brahmins, chanted ceaselessly. Rain will then start falling, revealing the place as a sacred one where communications with the gods were thought to take place.
The Grand Palace is a symbolic monument filled with sculptures of various things carrying hidden meanings meant for specific purposes. Among the most intriguing of which are the three pagodas to the north of the ubosoth (primary building), symbolizing the changing characteristic of Buddhist impact. Phra Si Ratana Chedi, towards the west, is a nineteenth-century Sri Lankan-style stupa lodging fiery debris of the Buddha . Phra Mondop, in the center, is a library fabricated in Thai style by Rama I, known for its perfectly made Ayutthaya-style mother-of-pearl entryways, shelves containing the Tripitaka, human and mythical serpent headed nagas (snakes), and statues of Chakri rulers.
The Royal Pantheon, towards the east, was implicitly Khmer’s style during the nineteenth century. The general public is allowed in for only a day in October to celebrate the establishing of the Chakri tradition. To the north of the library is a model of Angkor Wat, the holiest of all Cambodian altars. The model was built by King Mongkut as an indicator that the neighboring state was under the territory of Thailand. Towards the bot’s west, close to the section door, is a dark stone statue of a loner, considered a patron of medication, before which relatives of the evil and weak pay respect and make offerings of joss sticks, natural products, flowers, and candles.
Scattered around are the statues of elephants, which symbolize autonomy and power of the country. Thai rulers went to fight on elephants, and it is a standard for parents to walk their siblings around an elephant three times to make them have strength. Symbolically, the elephants were also used as a source of good luck in the event that one rubs its head.
Besides being a religious center, the Grand Palace is regarded as the center of leadership for the Thai nation since its rebirth in the era of the construction of the magnificent palace. Since the establishment of Bangkok as the Nation’s capital by King Rama I, The Grand Palace has been the major structural image of The Thai Royal Family. In the present time, The Royal Family lives at Chitralada Palace while The Grand Palace is utilized for ceremonial purposes. Phra Thinang Chakri Maha Prasat, made in 1877 inside the Grand Palace by King Rama V as his Royal Residence, is the most exceedingly perceived structural point of interest of the of the country. The main Throne Hall was at some moment ago used for the welcoming of envoys from foreign countries. The main room located the second floor is utilized as a place of worship for the reliquary ashes belonging to Kings Rama IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII. Borom Phiman castle was likewise built during the rule of King Rama V. At the point when his child, King Rama VI became the king; he had it renovated as his residence. The three succeeding Kings also lived there at some time. The Siwalai Gardens has for some time now been used as a recreational place for the kingship families.
Grand Palace plan took after that of the old royal residence in Ayutthaya. The Palace is rectangular formed, with the western side beside a stream and the regal sanctuary arranged towards the east side, with all structures facing north. The royal residence itself is isolated from three distinctive quarters: the external quarters, the center quarters and the internal quarters. The royal residence turned into a major center of the Rattanakosin government as well as the royal court for a greater part of the early Chakri Dynasty until the rule of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) who wanted to stay at the Dusit Palace, yet at the same time utilized the Grand Palace as an office and home . This practice was trailed by his children (Rama VI and Rama VII) who favored their royal residences. Lord Rama VIII moved into the castle full time after his arrival from European countries in 1945. However after his death a year later in one royal residence inside the palace, his sibling Rama IX who succeeded him chose to move to the Chitralada Palace.
The Palace is however still all that much being used; the same number of imperial customs are performed here by the King each year. Other royal events still conducted at the Grand Palace include; royal funerals, coronations, royal marriages and state feasts. The Palace grounds likewise contain the offices of the Royal’s Bureau Household, Royal Institute of Thailand as well as the private secretary to the king. The Grand Palace inner partition has housed the families of all the kings who ever ruled the Thai Nation until the reign of King Rama VI. He declared polygamy as unlawful thereby ending the endless numbers of wives and their families in the royal building. The Grand Palace was both the nation’s regulatory and religious center. As the principle residence of the king, the castle was likewise the seat of government, with a large number of tenants including patrols, workers, courtesans, princesses, clergymen, and subjects. The royal residence’s high whitewashed castellated dividers and broad fortresses and watchman posts reflected those of the dividers of Bangkok itself, and accordingly the Grand Palace was imagined as a city inside of a city. Consequently, a unique arrangement of Palace Laws were made to oversee the occupants and to build up pecking law and order.
As demonstrated, the Grand Palace forms an important part of history for the people of the Thai Nation. Internationally, the palace forms the most decorated tourist attraction in Thailand for decades now. In the past the palace facilitated eleven diverse private lobbies and structures; in 2012 just three are left (despite the fact that they have been totally reproduced): The Sommuthi Thevaraj Uppabat Hall, the Moon Satharn Borom Ard Hall and the. Behind these structures lie the amazing Borom Ratchasathit Mahoran Hall, which has been as of late revamped. None of the rooms are opened to the general population, as state capacities are still completed inside. The changing of the gatekeepers happens at the front area like clockwork for the people of Thailand, the Grand Palace houses Wat Phra Kaeo, the treasure of Thai religious art and one of the holiest Buddhist site in Thailand . Hundreds of Thai residents occasionally throng into the palace to fulfill the religious obligations of worship. The palace also houses a very important image in the Hindu religion, Buddhist image, Emerald Buddha. Tourists, as well as other visitors to the palace, are never to enter the palace while dressed inappropriately since the palace is regarded as holy and place of worship. As a center of religion, the palace houses Chapel of the Gandhara Buddha that is a place of worship for the Hindu. Grand Palace is regarded as the center of leadership for the Thai nation for the following reasons as demonstrated above; since the establishment of Bangkok as the Nation’s capital by King Rama I, The Palace has been the major structural image of The Thai Royal Family. It has housed the kings who have ruled Thailand prior to King Rama IV . Royal events are still conducted at the Grand Palace including royal funerals, coronations, royal marriages and state feasts. Indeed, the Grand Palace has served the Thai nationals as a center of religion and administration since the rebirth of the country in the eighteenth century to date.