It is located in the Rattanakosin district directly adjacent to the Grand Palace.[2] Known also as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, its official name is Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Ratchaworamahawihan (Thai: วัดพระเชตุพนวิมลมังคลารามราชวรมหาวิหาร IPA: [wát pʰráʔ tɕʰêttupʰon wíʔmon maŋkʰalaːraːm râːttɕʰawɔːráʔmahǎːwíʔhǎːn]). The temple is also known as the birthplace of traditional Th
ai massage.Wat Pho is named after a monastery in India where Buddha is believed to have livedPrior to the temple's founding, the site was a centre of education for traditional Thai medicine, and statues were created showing yoga positions. An enormous Buddha image from Ayuthaya's Wat Si Sanaphet was destroyed by Burmeses in 1767, King Rama I (1782-1809 A.D.) incorporated its fragments to build a temple to enlarge and renovate the complex.[5] The complex underwent lot of modification in the next 260 years. Under king Rama III (1824-1851 A.D.), plaques inscribed with medical texts were placed around the temple.These received recognition in the Memory of the World Programme launched by UNESCO on 21 February 2008.Adjacent to the building housing the Reclining Buddha is a small raised garden, the centrepiece being a bodhi tree which is a scion (cutting) of the original tree in India where Buddha sat while awaiting enlightenment. The temple was created as a restoration of an earlier temple on the same site, Wat Phodharam, with the work beginning in 1788. The temple was restored and extended in the reign of King Rama III, and was restored again in 1982.
