In 1564 King Chaichettha could not resist the Burmese army of King Burannaung; thus he moved his capital down to Vientiane and the Emerald Buddha remained there for 214 years.
In 1778, during the Thonburi period, when King Rama I of Bangkok was still a general, he captured Vientiane and brought the Emerald Buddha back to Thailand. With the establishment 0 Bangkok as the capital, the Emerald Buddha became the palladium of Thailand and has been ever since. The image was moved from Thonburi to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok on 22 March 1784.
King Rama I had two seasonal costumes made for the Emerald Buddha, one for summer and one for the rainy season King Rama Ill (I824-1851) added another one for winter. The ceremony of changing the costumes of the Emerald Buddha. takes place three ti mes a year. In the old days the king wool' spray lustral water only on the princes and officials who were attending the ceremony inside the ubosoth. But during the present reign, His Majesty the King also sprays lustral water upon hi subjects who are wait ing outside the ordination hall. It can b regarded as a new tradition inaugurated in this reign.
The lap of the Emerald Buddha is 48.3 cm. wide and the height, including the base, is 66 cm. The image is in a seated. position, with the right leg resting on the left one. Judging from this iconographic factor, one could conclude that it was carve in Northern Thailand not much earlier than the fifteenth century A.D. and belongs to the late Northern Thai, that is to say, the late Chiengsaen or Chiengmai school. If this is so, it must has been made not long before its discovery in the stupa in Chien grai.
On the other hand, the Emerald Buddha, which is in the altitude of meditation, looks much like some of the Buddha images of Southern India and Sri Lanka, especially those in this same attitude. The attitude of meditation has never been popular in Th ai images of the Buddha. Thus one might assign the origin of the Emerald Buddha to one of the aforementioned countries
Phra Maha Chedi Si Rajakarn
This is a group of four large stupas, each 42 metres high. These four chedis are dedicated to first four Chakri kings . The first, in green mosaic tiles, was constructed by Rama I to house the remnants of the great Buddha from Ayuthaya, which was scorched to remove its gold covering by the Burmese. Two more were built by Rama III, one in a white tiles to hold the ashes of his father Rama II, another in yellow for himself. A fourth in blue was built by Rama IV who then enclosed the four chedis leaving no space for more to be built.
Yak Wat Pho/ Yak Wat Jaeng
Yak Wat Pho or Wat Pho’s Giants are located at the entrance gate of Phra Mondop. The design is similar to the giants in Ramayana literature. The club colors are red and green. This is often misunderstood that the Chinese stone dolls "Laentan" are Yak Wat Pho due the establishment nearby the entrance. The mythical legend of Tha Tian started that Yak Wat Pho, who guarded Wat Pho, and Yak Wat Jaeng, who guarded Wat Jaeng or Temple of Dawn, which situated opposite Wat Pho, they were both close friends.
One day, Yak Wat Pho was broke so he went across the Chao Phraya River to borrow money from Yak Wat Jaeng with an appointment date to return the money. Nevertheless, Yak Wat Pho failed to pay by the deadline. After waiting for a long time, Yak Wat Jaeng decided to cross the Chao Phraya River to request for the payment. Yak Wat Pho denied returning the money. Therefore, they had an argument and became a massive fight, which resulted in the damage of the area nearby.
Eventually, Phra Isuan heard that the both Giants brought trouble to all the livings around the area, he cursed them to become stone and ordered Yak Wat Pho to stand guarding in front of the assembly hall of Wat Pho, Phra Ubosot, and Yak Wat Jaeng to stand guarding the temple of Wat Jaeng. Eversince, the devastated battle area has been called "Tha Tian" which means flattened ferry