Woodcarving in Thailand

[mdallensr]

I was in Thailand last month and got to tour the Royal Palace and several temples. I was amazed by the carving and told my hosts about my carving hobby. They arranged two trips to see the best of their woodcarving. The first was a place called The Sanctuary of Truth.
http://www.sanctuaryoftruth.com/

The story about the building is on the website, but it's a private effort by a man and now, his sons. It's huge! 100 meters east-to-west and the same north-to-south, and 100 meters tall. It's all wood, mostly teak, except for the 5 meter deep concrete foundation. They asked if visitors wanted to carve, since it's still under construction, so I got to make a few cuts that will be part of this incredible building. It will take at least another 20 years to finish.

The central teak columns are a meter in diameter and stacked 3 or 4 high to make the 100 meter height. The floor board are 2" thick and a meter wide, also teak. The interior is carved in very deep relief and very realistic. Sorry about the quality of the photos, but the lighting is terrible in the building, my camera battery died, and I took these with my cell phone. What a day for a wood carver! Mike

[squbrigg]

Speachless.....................!!!!!

Magnificant carvings, layers and layers or them. What an impressive world we live in! Looks like the trip of a lifetime.

Thanks for sharing.

Bob

[Anthony Filetti]

Gorgeous!!! How'd you luck out?

[jamesfa]

Mdallensr-what a terrific looking place,we a heading to that part of the world next week.
have talk to the tour directer/my better half about adding a side trip.

Frank

[mdallensr]

I posted some more photos to my album:

http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.co...ry.php?cat=649