Wat
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A wat (derived from the Sanskrit word Vattaka) is a monastery temple in Cambodia, Thailand, Lanna or Laos. The word "wat" (Khmer: វត្ត, Thai: วัด, sometimes rendered "vat" when referring to Laos) means "school." Strictly speaking a wat is a Buddhist sacred precinct with monks' quarters, the temple proper, an edifice housing a large image of Buddha, and a structure for lessons. A Buddhist site without a minimum of three resident monks cannot correctly be described as a wat, although the term is frequently used more loosely, even for ruins of ancient temples. (As a transitive or intransitive verb, wat means to measure, to take measurements; compare templum, from which temple derives, having the same root as template.)
In Cambodia, a wat is used to refer to all kinds of places of worship. Technically, wat generally refers to a Buddhist place of worship, but the technical term is វត្តពុទ្ធសាសនា (wat pootasasna). A Christian church can be referred to either as វត្តយេស៊ូ (wat yeasu) or វិហារយេស៊ូ(vihear yeasu). Angkor Wat អង្ករវត្ត means city of temples.
In everyday language in Thailand, a wat is any place of worship except a mosque (Thai สุเหร่า - su-rao; or มัสยิด - Thai rendering of masjid; a mosque may also be described as โบสถ์ของอิสลาม - bot khong Is-a-lam). Thus wat cheen is a Chinese temple (either Buddhist or Taoist), wat khaek is a Hindu temple, and wat kris or wat krit or wat farang is a Christian church, though Thai โบสถ์ (โบด bot) may be used descriptively as with mosque.
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[edit] Structure
A typical Buddhist wat consists of the following buildings:
- chaidei or chedi (Khmer ចេតិយ), (Lanna: phrathāt), (Thai เจดีย์) (from Sanskrit: chaitya, temple) - usually conical in, as parian is a Pali word meaning 'educated monk' or 'monk student'.
The living quarters of the monks, including the กุฏิ (Lanna), (Thai กุติ kuti or กุด kut - monk cells) are separated from the sacred buildings.
[edit] Examples
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Look up wat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Some well-known wats include:
[edit] Cambodia
[edit] Laos
[edit] Thailand
- Wat Suthat, Bangkok Thailand
- Wat Benchamabophit (The Marble Temple), Bangkok
- Wat Ratchanadda, Bangkok
- Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok
- Wat Arun, Bangkok
- Wat Bowonniwet, Bangkok
- Wat Phra Pathom Chedi, Nakhon Pathom
[edit] Lanna (Northern Thailand)
- Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, Chiangmai
- Wat Chiang Man, Chiangmai
- Wat Chedi Luang, Chiangmai
- Wat Phrathat Doi Tung, Chiangrai
- Wat Phumin, Nan
[edit] Gallery
 Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia |
 Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh |
 Wat Phnom, Phnom Penh |
 Two viharns and a chedi at Wat Phra That Chang Kham, Nan |
 Chedi and viharn at Wat Suan Tan, Nan |
 Wat Xieng Thong, Luang Prabang, Laos |
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