Wat

This article is about a name for a Thai temple. For the Ethiopian dish, see Wat (food). For the Japanese pop duo, see WaT. For the Laibach album, see WAT. See also WAT (disambiguation).
The entrance to the Phra Viharn Luang (meeting hall) at Wat Suthat, one of the most important Buddhist temples in Bangkok

A wat (derived from the Sanskrit word Vattaka) is a monastery temple in Cambodia, Thailand or Laos. The word "wat" (Khmer វត្ត)(Thai วัด) (sometimes rendered "vat" when referring to Laos) means "school." Strictly speaking a wat is a Buddhist sacred precinct with monks' quarters, the temple proper, an edifice housing a large image of Buddha, and a structure for lessons. A Buddhist site without a minimum of three resident monks cannot correctly be described as a wat, although the term is frequently used more loosely, even for ruins of ancient temples. (As a transitive or intransitive verb, wat means to measure, to take measurements; compare templum, from which temple derives, having the same root as template.)

In Cambodia, a wat is used generally to refer to all kind of place of worship. Technically, wat generally refers to a Buddhist place of worship, but the technical term is វត្តពុទ្ធសាសនា (wat pootasasna). A church can be referred to either as វត្តយេស៊ូ (wat yeasu) or វិហារយេស៊ូ (vihear yeasu). Angkor Wat អង្ករវត្ត means city of temples.

In everyday language in Thailand, a wat is any place of worship except a mosque (Thai สุเหร่า su-rao; or มัสยิด Thai rendering of masjid; a mosque may also be described as โบสถ์ของอิสลาม bot khong Is-a-lam). Thus wat cheen is a Chinese temple (either Buddhist or Taoist), wat khaek is a Hindu temple, and wat kris or wat krit or wat farang is a Christian church, though Thai โบสถ์ (โบด bot) may be used descriptively as with mosque.

Contents

Structure

A typical Buddhist wat consists of the following buildings:

  • chaidei or chedi (Khmer ចេតិយ), (Thai เจดีย์) (from Sanskrit: chaitya, temple) - usually conical or bell-shaped buildings, often containing relics of Buddha
  • vihear (Khmer វិហារ), viharn or wihaan (Thai วิหาร) (from Sanskrit: vihara and Pali vihaan ) - a meeting and prayer room
  • mondop มณฑป (from Sanskrit: Mandapa) - a usually open, square building with four arches and a pyramidal roof, used to worship religious texts or objects
  • sala (Khmer សាលា), (Thai ศาลา) (from Sanskrit: Shala - School, from an earlier meaning of shelter) - a pavilion for relaxation or miscellaneous activities
  • bot โบสถ์ or ubosoth อุโบสถ์ (from Pali uposatha) - the holiest prayer room, also called the "ordination hall" as it is where new monks take their vows. Architecturally it is similar to the vihara; the main differences are the eight cornerstones placed around the bot to ward off evil. The bot is usually more decorated than the viharn.
  • haw trai หอไตร - Tripitaka library where Buddhist scriptures are kept
  • haw klawng หอกลอง - drum tower
  • haw rakhang หอระฆัง - bell tower
  • sala kan parian (Thai: ศาลาการเปรียญ, study hall) is a multipurpose hall in a wat. In the past this hall was only for monks to study in, as parian is a Pali word meaning 'educated monk' or 'monk student'.

The living quarters of the monks, including the กุฏิ (กุติ kuti or กุด kut - monk cells) are separated from the sacred buildings.

Examples

Look up Wat in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Some well-known wats include:

Cambodia

Laos

Thailand

Gallery

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh

Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh

Two viharns and a chedi at Wat Phra That Chang Kham, Nan

Chedi and viharn at Wat Suan Tan, Nan

Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang, Laos
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  • This page was last modified on 5 November 2008, at 07:32.

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