The top most
part is about 100 meters high, and the base is 500
meters in diameter.
The Golden Mount at Wat Saket.
Built on an artificial man-made hill, the Golden Mount is the temple’s most well-known landmark and is a sacred pilgrimage site during the weeklong worshipping period in November. To get to the top requires a climb up some 300 steps, which encircle the chedi like a loosely coiled snake. The path is well-paved and the climb relatively easy if you avoid going at midday or during peak summer months.
Before beginning the climb, you will find an unusual cemetery built into the base of the Golden Mount. Covered in vines and overgrown trees, it emits a rather spooky out-of-era vibe. Perhaps this is because in the late 18th century, Wat Saket served as the capital's crematorium and the dumping ground for some 60,000 plague victims. Approaching the top of the hill, you will be welcomed by a wall of bells and panoramas of historic Bangkok.
The Wat Saket just outside the old Rattanakosin island area is one of Bangkok’s oldest temples dating back to the Ayutthaya era, which lasted until 1767. The temple was then named Wat Sakae. When King Rama I became the first ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom he ordered the temple to be restored and renamed it Wat Saket Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan, or Wat Saket for short.
The structure that Wat Saket is best known for is its 80 meter high hill called “Golden Mount” and the huge gilded stupa on top of it. It was once the highest point in Bangkok.
The hill was created during the reign of King Rama III who ordered a large chedi to be build in the Wat Saket temple complex. During the construction however, the chedi collapsed because the soil it was standing on was too soft to support the weight. Years later King Rama IV had the hill reinforced and made higher with large numbers of logs to prevent the soil from sinking any further, and he had a small stupa build on top. The large gilded stupa existing today dates from the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). In the 1940’s the hill was reinforced again using concrete.
The climb to the top of the mount
To reach the stupa on top of the Golden Mount requires a 318 steps climb up the hill. On one of the platforms on the way to the top you will find a line of large prayer bells that Buddhist people strike producing a very deep tone. Once upstairs you will have great views of Bangkok in all directions.
The huge chedi contains relics of the Buddha, that were brought over from India. The Wat Saket was used to cremate the deceased who were too poor to afford a funeral or cremation. When an epidemic hit Bangkok during the reign of King Rama II, the remains of tens of thousands of poor people were brought here to be cremated.
The Wat Saket temple itself is located at the base of the hill. Most visitors miss it, just climbing to the stupa on top of the hill. In the temple complex you will find an ordination hall or ubosot, a viharn, a Ho Trai where Buddhist scriptures are kept and the monks living quarters.
During the Loy Krathong festival that takes place every year during the night of the 12th Thai full moon usually early November, the Wat Saket hosts a temple fair that lasts 9 days. People carry a long red cloth over their heads climbing the stairs to the top of the Golden Mount and wrap the cloth around the base of the chedi.