Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing

Wat Suthat was begun by Rama I to house the Phra Si Sakyamuni, a fourteenth-century bronze Buddha brought by river from Sukhothai, and finished under Rama III. Its viharn is one of the largest in Thailand and the walls are covered floor to ceiling in murals of the Buddha's lives, dark and dense and much less visited than the Grand Palace a few streets away. Outside stands Sao Ching Cha, the Giant Swing: a red teak frame over twenty metres tall, erected in 1784 for a Brahmin ceremony in which men on a swing seat attempted to seize a bag of coins hung from a pole with their teeth, swinging to great heights. Participants fell and died with enough regularity that Rama VII abolished the ceremony in 1935. The frame remains, restored, with the original timbers preserved in the National Museum. The two sit together and are seen as one stop.

What you actually see

• The murals - floor-to-ceiling painting through one of Thailand's largest viharns.
• Phra Si Sakyamuni - the fourteenth-century bronze brought from Sukhothai.
• The Giant Swing - the twenty-metre red teak frame outside.
• The abolished ritual - the ceremony stopped in 1935 after repeated deaths.

When to go

November to February. The temple opens standard hours with a small charge; the swing is on a public street and can be seen at any time. Mornings are quietest.

Honest expectations

The viharn is dark and photography of the murals is difficult. Temple dress code applies - shoulders and knees covered. The swing is a frame on a traffic island; there is nothing to do there but look at it.

Nearby

The Golden Mount and Loha Prasat are a short walk; the Grand Palace is west.