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Phra Mondop (Repository of the Royal Golden Edition of the Buddhist Canon)
This edifice was built by King Rama I to replace the original building that had stood in the middle of a pond
on the site of the present building. It was customary to surround canonical libraries with water to prevent damage to the manuscripts by fire and termites. Ironically,
the original building was destroyed by the onflagration caused by fire-works on the day of its inauguration. However, the manuscripts and the mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinet
that containded them were miraculously saved. The king had the pond filled and constructed a high platform on which he built the Repository to house the first fully-revised
edition of the Buddhist canon of the Rattanakosin Era known as the "Royal Golden Edition">. The manuscripts of the scriptures were in the form of palm-leaf books
with covers of gilt lacquer with the edges of the leaves also gilt. The revision of the scriptures was one of the first tasks undertaken by King Rama I on his accesion to the Throne.
The name Phra Mondop" derived from the Sanskrit Mondopa" which originally meant an antechmber of a sanctuary, but in Thai means a square structure with
a tapering roof. The Phra Mondop of this temple is noted for its beautiful proportions and refinement of detail. The Magnificent seven-tiered roof is topped by a soaring glass-decorated spire,
supported by twenty glass-inlaid stucco pillars with lotus capitals. Five-headed Nagas with human faces form the banisters of the staircases that lead to the doors of the Phra Mondop--
one on each of the four sides of the building. Not to be missed are the four pairs of demons that stand guard at the top of the stairways, for they are work of the First Reign and have the
distinction of being regarded as the most perfectly proportioned of all existing classical sculptures of Rattanakosin craftsmanship. The floor of the Phra Mondop is lined from wall to wall
by a mat woven from strips of pure silver.
Also noteworthy are the fine mother-of-pearl inlaid door panels and the double rows of gilded metal figures of demons, garudas
and angels around the base of the exterior of the building. Outside the building are replicas of four erly ninth century Dhyani Buddhas from Candi Plaosan in central Java. The originals are now
kept in the Museum of the Royal Chapel.
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