Wat Muang

Phra Buddha Maha Nawamin at Wat Muang is a seated Buddha of about ninety-two metres, built between 1990 and 2008 in concrete faced with gold paint, and it is the tallest statue in Thailand and among the tallest Buddha images in the world. It sits in flat rice country in Ang Thong with nothing around it, so it is visible for kilometres, and visitors climb to a platform level with the hand. Beside it is the other thing the temple is known for: a large garden of concrete sculptures depicting Naraka, the Buddhist hells, with figures being boiled, impaled, torn apart by animals and subjected to the specific punishments the texts assign to specific sins, each labelled. Hell gardens exist at a number of Thai temples and are intended as moral instruction rather than entertainment; they are graphic and are not suitable for young children.

What you actually see

• The great Buddha - ninety-two metres, the tallest statue in Thailand.
• The hand platform - the level visitors climb to beside the statue.
• The hell garden - concrete Naraka scenes with labelled punishments.
• The rice country - flat fields with the statue visible for kilometres.

When to go

November to February. Early or late for the light and to avoid the heat; the site is unshaded. One to two hours covers both the statue and the garden.

Honest expectations

The hell garden is genuinely graphic - dismemberment, boiling and impalement - and is not for young children. No shade. The statue is concrete and paint rather than gold. Free with donation boxes throughout.

Nearby

Wat Khun Inthapramun is close; Ayutthaya is south-east.