Wat Pho or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha is the oldest Buddhist shrine in the capital of Thailand, a sacred place of pilgrimage for Thai believers and one of the main landmarks in Bangkok. Right here, in this ancient temple of the 12th century, Rama I founded the Chakri dynasty and proclaimed himself the King of Thailand. At the end of the 18th century, a Buddhist 41-meter stupa decorated with emerald-colored mosaics was erected on the old monastery site. A white stupa was built later, during the reign of King Rama III. Under Rama IV, two more magnificent stupas appeared: the yellow one was in honor of Rama III, and the blue – in honor of Queen Si Suriyothai. Four cult monuments symbolized the reign of the first four rulers of the ancient Chakri dynasty and formed a unified complex available nowadays. Despite all the beauty of the Buddhist temple whose walls were covered with colorful paintings depicting the lives of seven great disciples of Gautama, the dominant feature is a giant 46-metres-long gilded statue of the reclining Buddha. Its feet deserve particular attention as they were decorated with pearl ornaments. One hundred and eight symbols of Buddhism, including lotus flowers, elephants and tigers were applied for a reason: they symbolize certain states on the path to spiritual growth. In total, Wat Pho (as the locals call the temple) has 400 statues of Buddha and about a hundred stupas of various sizes, which are guarded by silent stone warriors brought from China in the 19th century. Besides, this site is a center of traditional medicine. The ancient art of legendary, miraculous massage appeared here. Today, the largest school of classical Thai massage can give classes to anyone interested, or just an opportunity to feel the magical properties of the most popular treatment on Earth.