If You Ever Wanted to Visit a Temple, Make This The One

Part religious building and part contemporary art, Wat Rong Khun or “The White Temple” toggles the line between eccentricity and poetic. Conceived by millionaire Thai Buddhist artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, construction started in 1997 near the city of Chiang Rai, in northern Thailand for what is to be his offering to Buddha. The structure is covered in white to represent Buddha’s purity while the mirrors symbolize Buddha’s dhamma or truth. Aside from the traditional images of Buddha around the temple, it also contains many unorthodox and noteworthy features. In the exterior, skeleton and demon heads warn visitors about the dangers of alcohol and smoking while a sculpture of The Predator emerges from the lawn, and Freddy Krueger and Batman planters hang from a tree. Meanwhile, paintings of Neo from The Matrix, Spiderman, and the fall of the Twin Towers adorn the interior walls which, according to Kositpipat, all further Buddha’s message. No detail is spared as a trip to the toilet will remind visitors about the message of worldliness as they step into a separate temple completely covered in gold.