Beitou (北投) is a district of Taipei City at the foot of Yangmingshan (陽明山 or Yangming Mountain), a collection of mountain peaks that make up Yangminshan National Park. These include Seven Star Mountain (七星山 or Qixingshan), a dormant volcano that last erupted around 700,000 years ago.
Xinbeitou (新北投), the hot spring village around Xinbeitou MRT station, occupies a lush valley that is home to 1200 species of plants, 110 species of bird, and 160 varieties of butterflies.
Beitou Thermal Valley (also called Beitou Geothermal Valley or Hell Valley) is a second, highly acidic “green sulfur” hot spring that is a major tourist attraction in Beitou and the source of the hot creek running through Beitou Hot Spring Park.
The spring water is high in radium, which in the past underwent a corrosive reaction with the andesite rocks on the river bed about 150 meters downstream, creating layers of cream and white diamond-shaped crystals named Hokutolite or “Beitou stone”, ...
Wat Ratchaorasaram Ratchaworawihan is a first class royal monastery, or Ratchaworawihan, and a royal temple of Chakri dynasty's King Rama III. This temple is in the Chom Thong District, Bangkok. It is connected to not only the west side (Thonburi side) of Khlong Sanam Chai, but also Khlong Bang Wa on the north side of the temple.
It is an ancient temple constructed before the establishment of Rattanakosin Kingdom. It is said that this temple was a common monastery built during Ayutthaya period. In the past, it was called "Wat Chom Thong," "Wat Chao Thong," or "Wat Gong Thong." However, the founder of this temple is still unknown.
Prince Chetsadabodin (later crowned King Rama III) had the whole Wat Chom Thong renovated after he had led the Thai army to intercept the Burmese army at the Three Pagodas Pass in Kanchanaburi Province in 1820. When the naval army reached Wat Chom Thong on the Thonburi side, the prince decided to pause and perform a religious ceremony called Khon Thawan, according to ...
Prang Kuti Ruesi, also widely referred to as Kuti Ruesi Noi or Prasat Kuti Ruesi, stands as a compact yet historically significant Khmer hospital temple, or arogayasala, positioned approximately 450 meters south of the southern city gate of ancient Phimai in Nakhon Ratchasima Province.
Constructed under the direction of King Jayavarman VII during the late 12th to early 13th century, it formed part of the Khmer Empire’s network of around 102 such facilities dedicated to public healthcare and Mahayana Buddhist compassion.
Built primarily from laterite blocks with sandstone accents for doorways and carvings, the temple adheres to the standardized arogayasala layout featuring a central prang sanctuary on a square base, surrounded by laterite walls and entrances that once facilitated access for patients, healers, and pilgrims traveling the royal road from Angkor.
This site provided free medical services blending practical treatment with spiritual rituals centered on the Medicine Buddha, supported by ...
Wat Makut Kasatriyaram Ratchaworawihan, commonly known as Wat Makut, is a second-class royal temple of the Ratchaworawihan type located along Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem canal near Ratchadamnoen Nok Road in Bang Khun Phrom subdistrict, Phra Nakhon district, Bangkok.
King Mongkut (Rama IV) commissioned the temple as part of his vision to line the newly excavated outer canal with monasteries, mirroring the arrangement seen in the former capital of Ayutthaya. It was built as a companion to Wat Sommanat Ratchaworawihan and served as a personal royal temple reflecting the king’s deep commitment to the Dhammayuttika Nikaya order, which he helped establish to promote stricter monastic discipline and scriptural study.
Construction, supervised by Somdet Chaophraya Borommaha Sri Suriayawong (Chuang Bunnag) with Prince Rajsri Wisit as the lead architect, was completed in 1868, the same year Rama IV passed away. Initially known temporarily as Wat Phra Nam Banyat or Wat Nambanyat, the temple received its ...
