Phra Ubosot Wat Rachathiwat

Site common name	Wat Rachathiwat Rachaworaviharn
Type of artwork	Architecture
Sub district	Wachiraphayaban
District	Khet Dusit
Province	Bangkok
Region	Central
Country	Thailand
Geographic Coordinates Decimal degree	Lat : 13.7759724 Long : 100.503463
Geographic Coordinates UTM	Zone : 47 P Hemisphere : N E : 662532.87 N : 1523458.08
Place of artwork	In the sacred zone

History of production	The original Phra Ubosot was renovated during the reign of King Rama III – IV. However, King Rama V ordered to build anew which would be finished in the latter reign. This project was under Prince Naris as the architect and Mr. C. Alegri as the engineer from the Department of Public Works.
Art	Phra Ubosot faces the west, where the former temple entrance was, and has three doorways. The building can b divided into three parts. The front veranda, the centre area where the rituals are held and the duplicated Phra Samphuttha Phanni is installed under the white nine-tiered parasol. Behind the buddha image is the niche which displays the painting of Vessantara Jataka drawn by Prince Naris and used Fresco paint by an Italian painter, Mr. C. Rigoli. The back part is where the former principal buddha image of the temple, Phra Samphuttha Wadhobhas, installed. The front portico of the ubosot has Lopburi Art cornice, while its pediment consists of the standing buddha image with Abhaya Mudra gesture at the centre and two sitting disciples in the niches. The roof uses blue tiles which both sided eaves are decorated by three Lopburi Art cornices.
Key academic information	Wat Rachathiwat Rachaworaviharn was built in the Ayutthaya Period. Its orginal name was Wat Samor Rai before changing to the present name by King Rama IV after the restoration. Rachathiwat, whose meaning is the temple where the king lives, was a temple King Rama IV stayed during his monkhood before he moved to Wat Bowornnivetviharn. This temple is also the first temple where Dhammayut Order established.
Period	Historical Period
Art period	Rattanakosin
Age	20th century AD
Religion	Buddhism
Sect	Theravada
Religion and belief	Therava Buddhism
Related artwork	The architectural style of Phra Ubosot Wat Rachathiwat is the prototype for Chulalongkorn University Auditorium.

Type of License	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
Rights	Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Date of record creation	2015-06-17
Record creator	Patsaweesiri Premkulanan
Bibliography	จารุณี อินเฉิดฉาย. ศิลปกรรมวัดราชาธิวาส.กรุงเทพฯ : สมาคมนักเรียนเก่าราชาธิวาส,2546. อัครพันธุ์ พันธุ์สัมฤทธิ์. การศึกษาสถาปัตยกรรมวัดราชาธิวาส(วัดสมอราย) (วิทยานิพนธ์ศิลปศาสตรมหาบัณฑิต สาขาประวัติศาสตร์สถาปัตยกรรม บัณฑิตวิทยาลัย มหาวิทยาลัยศิลปากร, 2545.