What Exactly Is A Buddha Wat


by Shivani Garg - Date: 2006-12-05 - Word Count: 256 Share This!

Buddha Wat means a temple for Buddhists. These temples are located in Cambodia, Laos or Thailand. The word "wat" literally means "school". In Laos, however, "Wat" is spelled as "vat" . Basically, wat or vat is a Buddhist temple as well as a school where the Buddhist monks reside. A site which does not have any resident Buddhist monks cannot be called a wat strictly but sometimes, even the ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple is called a wat.

In Thailand, a wat has come to be any place of worship except for a mosque. For example a Chinese temple of either Buddhist or Taoist origin is called wat cheen, a hindu temple is a wat khaek and a Christian church is called as wat kris or wat krit. Some important parts of a wat are Chedi which means a conical or bell shaped building. Chedi often houses the relics of Buddha.

Viharn which is a prayer or a meeting room. Mondhop which is the library containing all books related to the religion for the monks' use. Sala which is a hall for relaxing as well as other purposes. Ubosoth which is the holy prayer room. It is also called the ordination hall as the monks take their vows here. It is quite similar to the viharn but usually more decorated. Living quarters of the monk, which are separated from the sacred buildings mentioned above. Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Wat Suthat and Wat Bowonniwet in Bangkok and Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang are some of the famous wats.


Related Tags: school, buddha, buddhism, cambodia, wat, vat, laos, temple

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