Wat Pa Sawangbun

Wat Pa Sawangbun’s main chedi is ringed by around 500 gilded pinnacles on a nine-tier base, giving it the local nickname Chedi Ha Roi Yot — the 500-Pinnacle Chedi. It sits in Tambon Cha-om, Kaeng Khoi district, Saraburi province, on 400 rai of land, an hour or so from the edge of Khao Yai National Park rather than inside it.

Luang Pho Somchai Punyamano founded the temple in 1985 on land that belonged to his father. Two decades later, in 2005, Buddhists from Saraburi and across the country pooled funds to build the site’s centrepiece: Phra Maha Ratana Loha Chedi Sri Sasanabodhisattva Sawangbun, completed in 2007. The main chedi stands at the centre of the circular pedestal, surrounded by its ring of smaller gilded chedis, with entrances on all four sides leading inward to the core structure. Inside, the walls are set with ruby-red glass and the ceiling is decorated with images of Thailand’s most important Phra That chedis. A smaller, intricately worked chedi sits at the very centre, enshrining Buddha relics brought from Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka — the temple’s own count puts the total relics held across the site at 84,000.

Beyond the chedi, the grounds hold a 10.59-metre reclining Buddha carved from a single block of stone, said to be one of the largest stone Buddha images in the country, and a Chiang Saen-style Buddha image roughly 109 inches wide enshrined in the ubosot. Several stupa-shaped dwellings echo the form of the stupa built at Kusinagara, the traditional site of the Buddha’s death, and a scattering of carved stone Buddha figures — including one weighing around a tonne — sit among them.

Insider Tip: Come in the late afternoon when the sun angles low across the gilded pinnacles — the ring of 500 spires catches the light far better than at midday, when the gold surfaces just glare.

Dress modestly and remove your shoes before entering the ubosot or the inner chedi chamber. The temple is reachable by car from Kaeng Khoi or Saraburi town; pair a visit with Wat Phra Phutthabat Ratchaworamahawihan or Tham Krabok Monastery elsewhere in the province.