Sanctuary of Truth
— — a temple still being carved.
Not only on a wall.
“An all-wood temple on a headland north of Pattaya, begun in 1981 and still under construction. Every surface is hand-carved teak, ironwood, and mai-deng held together without a single iron nail. The four wings hold figures from Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, each carved by a working crew of about 250 craftsmen who pass the chisel from one generation to the next. The salt air weathers the wood; the carvers replace what the sea takes. The work is the point. from the studio
Sanctuary of Truth, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The Sanctuary of Truth stands on Rachavate Cape, north of Pattaya on the Gulf of Thailand coast of Chonburi Province, about 150 kilometres southeast of Bangkok. The temple was commissioned in 1981 by the Thai businessman and philosopher Lek Viriyaphant, who funded its construction until his death in 2000; the work has been continued since by his family. It rises about 105 metres at the central spire and covers more than 2,100 square metres of ground floor. Every element is carved from teak, takhian, redwood, and mai-deng hardwoods.
The building is held together by traditional Thai wood joinery alone, without iron nails, in a method drawn from the temples of Ayutthaya. About 250 craftsmen work the site full time, carving figures from Hindu and Buddhist cosmology across the four cardinal wings: Brahma to the north, Shiva, Vishnu, and a Khmer-inflected Bayon to the others. The salt air of the Gulf of Thailand weathers exposed carvings on a roughly ten-year cycle; the working crew replaces each weathered figure with a new carving rather than restoring the old, so the building is continually re-born.
The Sanctuary is open daily, typically 08:00 to 18:00, with timed tours every half hour led by English-speaking guides. Hard hats are issued at the entrance because the carving crew works overhead during visiting hours. The site also offers Thai dance performances, elephant shows on the grounds, and dolphin-watching boats from the small adjacent pier. The nearest landmark is Wong Amat Beach, two kilometres south, and the temple is about 165 kilometres by road from Suvarnabhumi Airport, reachable in roughly two hours outside Bangkok traffic.