The Grand Palace complex in Bangkok is the center of Thailand’s religious and ceremonial life, mainly due to the Wat Phra Kaew within that houses the Emerald Buddha, the country’s holiest Buddhist relic.
As you enter the Grand Palace and walk your way to the Wat Phra Kaew, every angle seems to be crammed with meaningful detail, from towering yaksha, or demons from the Buddhist epic Ramayana, to statues of each king’s while elephants, to long walls decorated with scenes from the Buddhist epic Ramayana.
The bot housing the Emerald Buddha is the largest building in the temple complex. Inside, you’ll see a nine-metre-high pedestal supporting the Emerald Buddha, brought here in 1778 after a long recorded history from its discovery in Chiang Rai in 1434, with side trips to Sri Lanka and Cambodia.
How to get there: the Grand Palace is a fixture of most itineraries touring Bangkok, Thailand’s capital.