The gory process involved feeding body parts to a swarm of vultures that were long a fixture at Wat Saket. All of this was undertaken by an undertaker who received payment by way of a coin deposited by family members in each dead person's mouth. It's said that the undertaker would pluck out the coin and quickly place it in his own mouth for safekeeping.
But the charnel grounds were only one aspect of a temple that would have served as community centre, school and more. It's said that the powerful military commander, Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, who would later become King Rama I (founder of the still reigning Chakri Dynasty and one of Thailand’s most important historical figures), used the temple grounds as a place to rejuvenate between his military pursuits during the late 1700s. The Thai words, sa and ket, refer to “shower” and “hair”, so Wat Saket got its name due to the king-to-be cleansing himself here, both physically and spiritually.