Wat Saman Rattanaram

Wat Saman Rattanaram is an old temple that has become something else entirely: a large riverside compound filled with statuary, the centrepiece being a reclining Ganesha about sixteen metres high and twenty-two long, bright pink, completed in 2012 and reportedly the largest reclining Ganesha anywhere. Around it are shrines and figures drawn from Hindu, Chinese and Thai Buddhist traditions - Guanyin, Naga serpents, Hindu deities, a giant Buddha, zodiac animals, and mice at Ganesha's base into which people whisper wishes. The mix is syncretic in a way that is entirely normal in Thai popular religion and startling to visitors expecting a single tradition. It is unambiguously commercial - stalls, amulet sellers and a market fill the approach - and it is very busy at weekends with Thai visitors making merit and photographing. It sits an hour from Bangkok and is usually combined with Wat Sothon.

Highlights

• The pink Ganesha - reclining, sixteen metres high, completed in 2012.
• The wishing mice - figures at the base that wishes are whispered to.
• The mixed shrines - Hindu, Chinese and Thai Buddhist figures in one compound.
• The riverside market - stalls and amulet sellers along the approach.

When to go

November to February. Weekdays are far calmer than weekends, when it fills with Thai day-trippers. One to two hours covers it.

Before you go

Heavily commercial with constant stalls, amulet selling and donation solicitation. Almost everything is recent construction rather than historic. Crowded and noisy at weekends. Little shade in the compound.

Nearby

Wat Sothon Wararam is close; Bangkok is an hour west.

Key facts