Wat Traimit Witthayaram Worawihan (Thai: วัดไตรมิตรวิทยาราม วรวิหาร) is a Theravada Buddhist temple (wat) in Samphanthawong district, the Chinatown area of the Thai capital Bangkok. Probably dating to the early Rattanakosin period, it was previously known as Wat Sam Chin (วัดสามจีน) and received its current name in 1940. Today, the temple is best known for the golden Buddha statue enshrined there. It also houses the Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Center.
Wat Traimit was previously known as Wat Sam Chin or Wat Sam Chin Tai (วัดสามจีนใต้, 'south temple of the three Chinese'). According to oral histories, the temple was founded by three Chinese friends, hence its name.[1] The temple was probably originally built around the reign of King Rama III (1824–1851), but was mostly rebuilt in the 1930s–1940s.[2] It was renamed to Wat Traimit Witthayaram (traimit meaning 'three friends') on 3 February 1940, and became a royal temple of the second class in 1956.[1]
A plaster Buddha statue had been moved to the temple from the abandoned Wat Phraya Krai in 1935. In 1955, during a ceremony to move statue to the newly built vihara building, it was accidentally dropped, cracking the plaster and revealing a gold statue hidden beneath. The statue, officially named Phra Phutthamahasuwannapatimakon since 1992,[1] is now housed in the Mondop building, built in 2007.[2]
Wat Traimit is a notable example of early post-absolute monarchy Thai Buddhist temple architecture. The monks' residences were built in 1937, and the ubosot (ordination hall) was built in 1947 in the applied Thai style to designs by Luang Wisansinlapakam. The ubosot and monks' quarter received the ASA Architectural Conservation Award in 2011.[2]
The Mondop building, designed by Arvuth Ngoenchuklin [th],[2] houses the golden Buddha statue on its top floor, and two museums in its lower floors: one dedicated to the statue, and the Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Center, which depicts the history the area's Chinese immigrants.[3][4]
13°44′17″N 100°30′49″E / 13.73806°N 100.51361°E / 13.73806; 100.51361
