Wat Ratchanatdaram

Loha Prasat

Loha Prasat, which means iron castle or iron monastery(โลหะปราสาท), is composes of five towers, of which the outer, middle and the center tower contain large black iron spires. The 37 virtues that are required to reach enlightenment are signified by 37 black metal spires. The 36 m high multi-tiered structure consists 3 levels, the bottom one has 24 spires, the middle one 12 and the top level has 1 spire. There were two other similar structures which had existed in the world. First one was built in India named Michalis The maternal castle by Mrs. Maha Visakah worshipers. It contains 1,000 rooms with a golden spire on top. Another one was built in Sri Lanka. It has a nine floor and the roof was thatched with copper. Precious stones, wood and ivory were decorated on the wall. It was destroyed and remains of stone pillar from the past. Both of these never exist today. The design of Loha Prasat almost appears Burmese, but in fact this is a copy of old Buddhist design found in Sri Lanka. In the early nineteenth century, it was begun construct by King Rama III. A pyramid like structure created by the outer building is the widest, The next one smaller than the previous one. At the ground floor level of the tower you will find a labyrinth environment was supported by a great number of columns. Plenty of pictures are describing the history of structure in some of the corridors were installed in late 2007. The Loha Prasat was modeled after the one in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is the only one of its kind that exists today. It was submitted to UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site in 2005.