Temple of the Emerald Buddha
Rank: 
Top 100
Top 100Wonder Type: Cultural
Country: Thailand
Description:
Wat Phra Kaew is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple (wat) in Thailand. The Emerald Buddha housed in the temple is a potent religio-political symbol and the palladium (protective image) of Thai society. According to legend, this Buddha image originated in India where the sage Nagasena prophesized that the Emerald Buddha would bring "prosperity and pre-eminence to each country in which it resides", the Emerald Buddha deified in the Wat Phra Kaew is therefore deeply revered and venerated in Thailand as the protector of the country. [More Details]
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Temple of the Emerald Buddha", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 3.0 License.