Wat Lan Kuad Temple Of A Million Bottles

Wat Pa Maha Chedi, also known as Wat Lan Kuad or Temple of a Million bottles, is literally made from a million empty beer bottles....

Monks in Sisaket province, Thailand, have used over million recycled bottles to construct a temple known as Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew or Wat Lan Kuad – the later meaning ‘Temple of a Million Bottles.’

The monks said they started using the bottles for decoration around 25 years ago, the more they used, they more were donated. It wasn’t long before the monks started using the bottles as building materials for larger structures.

They encouraged local authorities to send them more, and over time, they collected enough to build a complex of around 20 buildings.

The complex, which lies near the Cambodia border 400 miles from Bangkok, consists of a main temple built over a lake, a crematorium, prayer rooms, a hall, water tower, tourist bathrooms, as well as several small bungalows that are all made from glass beer bottles.

The core of the buildings are cast in concrete to strengthen the structures.Green Heineken bottles or brown Chang beer, a Thai larger, bottles are used to make the walls and roof.

The monks have even used recycled beer bottle caps to create mosaics of Buddha.

The are approximately 1.5 million recycled bottles in the temple complex, and the monks intend to use more.

Abbot San Kataboonyo said:

“The more bottles we get, the more buildings we make.”

The beer bottle temple is now on an approved list of eco-friendly sight-seeing tours in southeast Asia.

Bottle Temple in Thailand Photos

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2 Responses to “Wat Lan Kuad Temple Of A Million Bottles”

1. Casey Pastine says:

   March 27, 2009 at 12:28 am

   Absolutely cool! It is beautifully done! I believe the monks should win a prize for this.
2. Rich says:

   March 27, 2009 at 4:38 am

   I agree with you a 100% but I am not sure if they would appreciate a prize in the traditional sense. I am not up on the religious custom, but I wonder what they would like to get out of this attention.