The city of Bangkok (or Rattanakosin) was established by King Rama I as his capital in 1782. Being determined to observe the tradition of constructing a Buddhist temple in the compound of the Royal Palace which has been practiced since the Sukhothai Period, King Rama I (Phra Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke) had the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (or Wat Phra Kaew) constructed in order to install the Emerald Buddha which he had taken from Vientiane in Laos. The construction took two years to complete and the famous image was then moved from the Thonburi Capital to the present location in 1784.

The Emerald Buddha is actually carved from a large piece of green jade. The lap of the image is 48.3 cms. wide and the height, including the base, is 66 cms. It is in a seated position with the right leg resting on the left one. However, there is no clear evidence to prove from where the image originated or who sculpted it but it first appeared on record in 15th century in Chiang Rai. Judging from its style, it seems to be from the Chiang Saen Period.

It is said that lighting struck a pagoda of a temple in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand and a Buddha image covered with stucco was found inside. The image was then kept with the abbot who later removed all the stucco and found the Emerald Buddha.

At the time, the town of Chiang Rai was under the rule of the King of Chiang Mai. The King wanted to bring the Emerald Buddha to Chiang Mai but he didn't succeed. Thus, the Buddha image was allowed to remain in Lampang for 32 years until 1468 it was taken to Chiang Mai by King Tiloka.

When the King of Chiang Mai passed away in 1551, the Emerald Buddha was taken to Laos by Prince Chaichettha who succeeded his grandfather (King of Chiang Mai) and ruled Chiang Mai for one year, but the Prince decided to go back to Laos to succeed the throne of his father. The Emerald Buddha thus remained in Laos since then.

In 1778 during the reign of King Taksin of Thonburi, General Chakri, who later succeeded King Taksin as Rama I, captured Vientiane and brought the Emerald Buddha back to Thailand. With the establishment of Bangkok as his capital, the Emerald Buddha was installed in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and has been the palladium of Thailand ever since.

King Rama I had two royal robes made for the Emerald Buddha, one to be worn in summer and one for the rainy season. Later King Rama III added another one for winter. The three robes are still solemnly changed at the beginning of each season by His Majesty the King.

According to legend, the Emerald Buddha was created in India in 43 BC by Nagasena in the city of Pataliputra (today Patna). The legends state that after remaining in Pataliputra for three hundred years, it was taken to Sri Lanka to save it from a civil war. In 457, King Anuruth of Burma sent a mission to Ceylon to ask for Buddhist scriptures and the Emerald Buddha, in order to support Buddhism in his country. These requests were granted, but the ship lost its way in a storm during the return voyage and landed in Cambodia. When the Thais captured Angkor Wat (following the ravage of the bubonic plague), the Emerald Buddha went to Ayutthaya (Cambodian historians record this as a gift to the Siamese King), Kamphaeng Phet, Laos and finally Chiang Rai, where the ruler of the city hid it. However, some art historians describe the Emerald Buddha as belonging to the Chiang Saen Style of the 15th Century AD, which would mean it is actually of Lannathai origin.


Historical sources indicate that the statue surfaced in northern Thailand in the Lannathai kingdom in 1434. One account of its discovery tells that lightning struck a pagoda in a temple in Chiang Rai, after which something became visible beneath the stucco. The Buddha was dug out and the people believed the figurine to be made of emerald, hence its name. King Sam Fang Kaen of Lannathai wanted it in his capital, Chiang Mai, but the elephant carrying it insisted, on three separate occasions, on going instead to Lampang. This was taken as a divine sign and the Emerald Buddha stayed in Lampang until 1468, when it was finally moved to Chiang Mai, where it was kept at Wat Chedi Luang.

The Emerald Buddha remained in Chiang Mai until 1552, when it was taken to Luang Prabang, then the capital of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. Some years earlier, the crown prince of Lan Xang, Setthathirath, had been invited to occupy the vacant throne of Lannathai. However, Prince Setthathirath also became king of Lan Xang when his father, Photisarath, died. He returned home, taking the revered Buddha figure with him. In 1564, King Setthathirath moved it to his new capital at Vientiane. NOTE: Setthathirath was of Lao, Thai and Lanna heritage, so was a Prince of Ayuttaya & Chiang Mai as well as the crown prince of Luang Prabang. Thai history records that Setthathirath removed the image without authority when the government of Chiang Mai fell into strife.


In 1779, the Thai General Chao Phraya Chakri put down an insurrection, captured Vientiane and returned the Emerald Buddha to Siam, taking it with him to Thonburi. After he became King Rama I of Thailand, he moved the Emerald Buddha with great ceremony to its current home in Wat Phra Kaew on March 22, 1784. It is now kept in the main building of the temple, the Ubosoth