Where in the World?

Question: Where in the world do hundreds of reaching hands attempt to lure you away from happiness?

Answer: Wat Rong Khun (the White Temple) in Chiang Rai, Thailand

Wat Rong Khun is a truly singular creation, the brainchild of Thai visual artist Chalermchai Kositpipat. On the site of a run-down temple, Kositpipat designed a temple like no other and has dedicated his life to developing one of the most unique and bizarre destinations in Southeast Asia. The gleaming all-white temple honors Buddha’s purity with its own original style and peculiar symbolism.

Unlike most Thai Buddhist temples that are painted bright colors and trimmed with gold, Wat Rong Khun is a shocking pure white color. If you look closely, you’ll see that it is covered with small pieces of glass and mirrors that make the structure sparkle and shine in the sunlight. In the moonlight, it glows in a particularly ghostly way—which is the way Kositpipat originally designed it to be viewed.

To get to the main building of the temple, you must cross the "Cycle of Rebirth", as Kositpipat has named the bridge to the entrance. While crossing the ornate bridge, a sea of ghostly hands numbering in the hundreds reach towards you. Representing the temptations of unchecked desire and greed, the hands are trying to lure you away from the temple, but crossing the bridge means rejecting them and finding your way to happiness and enlightenment instead. After crossing the bridge, you’ll arrive at the "Gate of Heaven" which is guarded by two creatures representing Death and Rahu (the one who decides the fate of the dead).

The interior is something of a shock: serene religious iconography gives way to images of apocalypse mixed with popular culture, including Michael Jackson, Spider-Man, and Harry Potter. To the artist, it’s a fresh, contemporary spin on ancient Buddhist teachings.

Already unique, the complex is only partly finished. Kositpipat is still making additions and alterations to Wat Rong Khun and estimates that it will not be complete until 2070. Then, he hopes it will last for millennia, like all of the greatest temples.

Five More Astonishing Temples in Southeast Asia:

• Wat Phra Doi Suthep: Outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand, this temple was built in the 14th century after the Sukhothai king sent a relic (said to be a bone of Buddha’s) into the jungle atop an elephant. The elephant climbed a steep, muddy hill, then stopped, blew its trumpet, and dropped dead. The king built a temple on the spot but made the ascent a bit easier by laying a stairway of 309 steps.
• Wat Yai Chai Mongko: In the ancient capital city of Ayutthaya, this wat has been a center for meditation in Thailand since 1357. Dozens of Buddhas enrobed in saffron outline the grounds, but the star of the show is a reclining Buddha the size of a school bus. Wearing a satisfied smile, it has been said to resemble the King’s own victorious expression.
• Wat Xieng Thong: The oldest temple of Luang Prabang, Laos, Wat Xieng Thong is a complex of 20 structures clustered on lush grounds. Every surface seems to tell a story: gilded doors depict Buddha’s life; carved ceilings explain theories of reincarnation; and exterior walls bring Lao legends to life.
• Wat Sisaket: In Vientiane, the decoration of Wat Sisaket is similarly complex, but it’s pretty much entirely the same image repeated in endless variation. 6,840 Buddhas in every size and a host of positions fill the oldest monastery of Laos. Rows of hundreds of seated Buddhas first greet the visitor, but peering into the nooks of the cloister walls reveals thousands more statues in wood, stone, and metal.
• Banteay Srei: One of Cambodia’s oldest temples, this one dates to the 10th century. Though its name means "Citadel of Women," it actually honors the male god Shiva. Its name comes from the delicacy and intricacy of its carvings, said to be so fine that only a woman’s hand could have made them.

Journey over the pit of reaching arms and into the striking white temple during Discover Thailand: Bangkok to Chiang Rai.