291206 Wat Mai - porch

On the east side:



The gable shows the birth of Gautama Buddha:



Not sure what story the west gable depicts, but Buddha is holding an alms bowl in his left hand:



Stencilled in gold on the ceiling of the porch are pictures from the life story of Gautama Buddha...



...including his birth (upper left), the night when he was disgusted by the sight of the dancers, singers & musicians of the royal court asleep (lower left), & the evil Mara trying to stop him when he escaped from the palace on his horse Kanthaka to become a mendicant (lower right):



Not a square inch of the porch is spared from decorative detail:

291206 Wat Mai

aka. Wat Si Suvannaphoumaham, the town's royal temple. Suvannaphoum is the Lao romanisation of Suvarnabhumi, better known as the name of Bangkok International Airport. View of Wat Mai from Phou Si:



There used to be one scripture library each on the left & right sides of the viharn, but both no longer exist.

The front porch (below, left) of the viharn was added on later in 1891 to the viharn that was built in 1796:



The multi-tiered roof:




Inside the viharn:




Quite a bit of cleaning & dusting work for the monks & novices on duty ;)