Thep Phitak Punnaram Temple
วัดเทพพิทักษ์ปุณณาราม
The temple houses Phra Phuttha Sakon Sima Mongkhon, a name granted by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX. Most people simply call it Luang Por Khao — the White Buddha — or Luang Por Yai, the Great Buddha. It is a vast white seated Buddha in the attitude of granting blessings, 27 metres across the lap and 45 metres tall, built in reinforced concrete on a hilltop 112 metres above the ground below. Every number means something: 112 metres is 56 wa, for the 56 virtues of the Buddha, and the 45-metre height stands for the 45 years he taught after his enlightenment. The stairway up to it splits in two and curves like the edges of a bodhi leaf — 1,250 steps counted across both sides, for the 1,250 arahants who gathered without arrangement on the day of Magha Puja.
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