Which Bangkok temple is known in English as the Temple of Dawn?

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Which Bangkok temple is known in English as the Temple of Dawn? Wat Arun is the answer.

Wat Arun, formally Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan, stands on Bangkok’s west bank along the Chao Phraya River. Its English nickname refers to Aruna, the Hindu personification of the rising sun, and the temple is especially famous when its central prang catches the early morning light.

A temple existed at the site during the Ayutthaya period, when it was called Wat Makok. King Taksin renamed it Wat Chaeng after establishing Thonburi as his capital in the late 18th century. The Emerald Buddha was housed here briefly before being moved across the river to Wat Phra Kaew in 1785.

The towering central prang was developed mainly during the reigns of Rama II and Rama III and is decorated with porcelain and seashells. Wat Pho is a common mix-up because it is also a major Bangkok temple, but Wat Pho is the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, not the Temple of Dawn.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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