The Sanctuary of Truth

I am sure many of you have been to Pattaya - a city famous for its colorful nightlife :) - but do you know that there's this magnificent temple no more than 30 minutes north of the city by wheels?



For the exact location, please refer to the Wikimapia map here. It's located right where the cursor is. Pattaya Beach is a bit to the south.

From Wikipedia:

Sanctuary of Truth (Thai: ปราสาทสัจธรรม, also called Wang Boran and Prasat Mai[1]) is a 105m wooden temple featuring contemporary fantastic religious art, currently being built in Pattaya, Thailand. The construction has been initiated and sponsored by Lek Viriyaphant, an eccentric Thai millionaire and patron of culture.

Begun in 1981 and scheduled to be complete in 2025, it is in the style of the ancient Khmer architecture such as that at Angkor and entirely covered in hand-carved wooden sculpture. It has four gopura, respectively representing images from the Buddhist and Hindu religion and mythologies of Cambodia, China, India and Thailand.

According to the official website, its purpose is to use art and culture as "a reflection of the Ancient Vision of Earth, Ancient Knowledge, and Eastern Philosophy. Within this complex, visitors will understand Ancient Life, Human Responsibility, Basic Thought, Cycle of living, Life Relationship with Universe and Common Goal of Life toward Utopia".

The official website is here.

It cost us only 600 bahts to hire a tuk tuk to take a group of eight guys there and back from/to Pattaya Beach. The drive also waited for us for at least 2.5 hrs.

The ticket to get in is 500 bahts but it's well worth it. There'll be a guided tour, and also a dolphin show.

This shot was stitched from 4 vertical shots in Photoshop, and cropped a bit.


Some of the closeup shots of the temple. I had them converted to b&w for the original wood colors just weren't very pleasing.

You can always click on the images below to view a bigger version :)










If you would like to see more, pls hop on to my Flickr photo set here.

I'll end this post with a few shots from the dolphin show :).

Jump


A treat for a trick :)


Shaking hands with guests




All images shot with a Canon 40D and Tamron 17-50

Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Tamron AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di-II LD SP ZL Aspherical (IF) Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras