Out of Norm Travels - Sukhothai, Thailand (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

-
The ancient Kingdom of Sukhothai (Thai: สุโขทัย) - Sukhothai is from Sanskrit sukha (सुख "happiness") + udaya (उदय "rise, emergence"), meaning "dawn of happiness".
 
According to the Lonely Planet, the Sukhothai (Rising of Happiness) Kingdom flourished from the mid-13th century to the late 14th century. This period is often viewed as the golden age of Thai civilisation, and the religious art and architecture of the era are considered to be the most classic of Thai styles. The remains of the kingdom, today known as meuang gòw (old city), feature around 45 sq km of partially rebuilt ruins, which are one of the most visited ancient sites in Thailand.

Wat Mahathat translates as “great relic”, and it is one of the oldest and most important Buddhist temples in Thailand. 
 


Wat Mahathat, Sukhothai


Wat Mahathat, Sukhothai

Wat Si Chum Temple is a 13th century temple enshrining the largest Buddha image in Sukhothai measuring 15 m high and 11 m wide. The name of the temple translates to “temple of the Bodhi tree”. Achana means one who is not frightened.
 
Wat Si Chum, Sukhothai Historical Park
 

Phra Achana at Wat Si Chum, Sukhothai Historical Park


Wat Sra Sri is one of the most picturesque temple grounds in Sukhothai built around 14th century. 

Wat Sra Sri
Wat Sra Sri
 An early morning or late afternoon stroll around this place is well worth the 3 -4 hrs drive from Bangkok.


Read more about this ancient city:

 
Till the next time, onto the world and beyond!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Out of Norm Travels -Beijing China - Walk up to Great Wall of China (JinShanLing section) on 21 May 2012

-
Image
This is a tick of my "to-do" list - Climb the Great Wall of China. There was never a doubt in my mind that I will do this climb & I was fortunate enough to do it again before I turn half century old.  Unlike my recollection of my first trip up along the Great Wall where I had little time to explore the Great Wall, this trip was arranged specially to ensure that I got to travel from one end of the Wall to another. As a result, I got to spend a significant time taking photos of the journey up along the Wall (without the thousands of best friends that would get their head into the picture). I specifically avoided the more popular Badaling section is where hordes of tourists are ferried when it comes to climbing the Great Wall.  This time the climb was carried out at the JingShanLing section of the Wall - where the old section of the Wall is still standing. This meant that in most areas my group of 3 was very much walking up along the Wall on our own with not many other t
Read more

Out of Norm Travels - Iceland The Land of Contrasts

-
Image
As I wrote this, I had already finished my last bits of  Skyr, Iceland's famous low fat yogurt  and with that last bit, all my lovely memories from a land I had visited in early February 2016 started flooding back.  This land is located some 12,680 km/7,878 miles away from home and took me some 16+ hours over 2 airlines before I finally landed on  Keflavik   International Airport ,  Iceland's international airport located in   Reykjavik, which is also Iceland’s capital. Reaching Iceland has been nothing short of a dream with my travel into extreme cold where "normal" means 0 degrees or less. For me, Iceland is a country of contrasts where Fire meets Ice, Water claps hands with the Earth, Skies says hello to the Earth and the Land where Giants, Trolls and Elves used to roam.  Our travels across this vast land first brought us towards  Kirkjufell  (West Iceland) on the north side of the  Snæfellsnes Peninsula   where we encountered the mighty  Kirkjufell Mo
Read more

Out of Norm Travels -2010 - Bhutan 11-20 June 2010- Day 1

-
Image
Reminiscing of my 1st Photo trip with my DSLR - Bhutan, the Land of the Dragons aka Happiest Place in the World.  I woke up at 3a.m. in Bangkok for a 3.50a.m. checkin for the 5.50a.m. flight using Bhutan ’s national carrier, “ Druk Air ”, the only flight that travels from Bangkok to the only airport in Bhutan that is in the area of Paro. We touched down in Paro at 750a.m. Bhutan is 1 hour behind Bangkok i.e. 2 hours behind Singapore .   The touchdown was fairly exciting as the plane had to navigate through a maze of the mountains and valleys and flight path was almost in a zigzag manner. I managed to get exciting birds-eye view of the flight path. For the first few moments after touchdown, passengers like me was busy taking photos of the exquisite airport with the intricate carvings and paintings. Immigration for 11 pax took some time as there was only 1 copy of the group visa for us to gain entry into the country. Here’s my fav shot of the airport. According to the
Read more