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Thonburi bank, Chao Phraya, Bangkok · 13.7437°, 100.4889°
Bangkok's river icon: a 70–80 m Khmer-style prang sheathed in flowers of broken Chinese porcelain — ballast from trade junks turned to ornament — representing Mount Meru rising from the ocean. King Taksin reached this temple at dawn in 1767 after Ayutthaya's fall and made it home to the Emerald Buddha before Bangkok proper was founded across the river.
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
Named for Aruna, the Indian dawn-god and charioteer of the sun — the Hindu cosmos embedded in a Buddhist skyline; Indra on Erawan, the three-headed elephant, rides the prang's second terrace.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-26 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Chakri (Rattanakosin)
Answers only from cited records
Opening the line…