Gothic but Buddhist

via Bangkok Post, 08 March 2020: This royal Buddhist temple in Pang Pa-in looks like a church.

When King Chulalongkorn commissioned Wat Niwet Thammaprawat in Ayutthaya’s Bang Pa-in district in 1876, the monarch wanted his subjects to have a “special” temple to pray in and marvel at.

The fact the King wanted the temple to be designed following Gothic-Revival aesthetics was never seen as an inclination to embrace another faith.

Designed by Italian architect Joachim Grassi, the temple — sitting proud on an island on the Chao Phraya River opposite the Bang Pa-in Royal Palace — stands out with its stained glass windows and spires. The temple, which took two years to complete, can only be accessed through a cable car from the palace.

Though from the outside the temple looks like a church, a Buddha image sits on the Gothic altar.

Source: Gothic but Buddhist