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Unit 8 - Exploring The Temple |
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Written by Richard Barrow
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Malee and Jane are now exploring the temple grounds. In the center is the giant white pagoda which is called "chedi" in Thai. It was the idea of King Rama II to build a temple here but he died before he could start building it. His son, King Rama III built it for him. At first it was 20 meters high, but later it was made bigger.
| Jane: |
What is the name of this temple? |
| Malee: |
It is called “Phra Samut Chedi Klang Nam”. It means the pagoda in the middle of the river. |
| Jane: |
Why do they call it that? It is not on an island. |
| Malee: |
A hundred years ago it used to be on a small island. Everyone had to come here by boat. Now the river has changed direction. |
| Jane: |
Can you tell me about the tall white pagoda? It is very big. Can we go inside? |
| Malee: |
In Thai we call it a "chedi". You cannot go inside, as it is solid. This one is 38 meters high. In the old days they put the ashes of a king inside the pagoda. This one has some relics of the Buddha. |
| Jane: |
That is interesting. What is that white building over there? Can we take a look? |
| Malee: |
Yes, it is a European style pavilion. It has some beautiful murals on the walls. |
| Jane: |
Whose statue is that? |
| Malee: |
It is King Rama II. It was his idea to build the temple. Take a look at the pictures on the wall. They tell the story of our province. |
| Jane: |
In those two pictures it looks like they are building the pagoda. I can see that back then it was an island. |
| Malee: |
Yes, that is right. What about those pictures over there? |
| Jane: |
It looks like they are building a fortress along the river. Are those forts still here? |
| Malee: |
We used to have many forts but not many are left now. The name of our city means "ocean fortress". If you like, we can go and see a fort now. |
| Jane: |
Yes that would be good. Let's go. |
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VOCABULARY:
pagoda = เจดีย์
direction = ทิศทาง
solid = มีลักษณะตัน
ashes = อัฐิ
relics = พระบรมสารีริกธาตุ
European style pavilion = ศาลาทรงยุโรป
murals = จิตรกรรมฝาผนัง
statue = อนุสาวรีย์, รูปปั้น
fortress = ป้อมปราการ
left = คงเหลือ
 UNIT 7 |
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UNIT 9  |
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