Wat

Awat(Khmer:វត្ត,vôtt[ʋɔət];Lao:ວັດ,vat[wāt];Thai:วัด,RTGS:wat[wát];Tai Lü:「ᩅᨯ᩠ᨰ」(waD+Dha);Northern Thai:「ᩅ᩠ᨯ᩶」 (w+Da2),[wa̋t]) is a type ofBuddhistandHindutemple inCambodia,Laos,East Shan State,Yunnan, theSouthern Provinceof Sri Lanka, andThailand.
The wordwatis borrowed from theSanskritvāṭa(Devanāgarī: वाट), meaning "enclosure".The term has varying meanings in each region, sometimes referring to a specific type of government-recognised or large temple, other times referring to any Buddhist or Hindu temple.
InBuddhism, awatis a Buddhist sacred precinct withvihara, a temple, an edifice housing a large image of Buddha and a facility for lessons. A site without a minimum of three residentbhikkhus cannot correctly be described as a wat although the term is frequently used more loosely, even for ruins of ancient temples. As a transitive or intransitive verb,watmeans to measure, to take measurements; comparetemplum, from whichtemplederives, having the same root astemplate.
InCambodia, awatis any place of worship. "Wat" generally refers to a Buddhist place of worship, but the precise term isvôtt pŭtthsasnéa(វត្តពុទ្ធសាសនា) meaning "Buddhist pagoda". "Angkor Wat" (អង្គរវត្តângkôr vôtt) means 'city of temples'.
In everyday language in Thailand, a "wat" is any place of worship except amosque(Thai:สุเหร่า;RTGS:surao; orThai:มัสยิด;RTGS:matsayit) or asynagogue(Thai:โบสถ์ยิว;RTGS:bot yio). Thus, awat chin(วัดจีน;lit.'Chinese temple') orsan chao(ศาลเจ้า;lit.'shrine') is a Chinese temple (eitherBuddhistorTaoist),wat khaek(วัดแขก;lit.'Indian temple') orthewasathan(เทวสถาน; fromSanskrit:devasathān) is aHindu temple,wat sik(Thai:วัดซิกข์;lit.'Sikh temple'is aGurdwara, andbot khrit(โบสถ์คริสต์) orwat farang(วัดฝรั่ง;lit.'Farangtemple') is aChristianchurch, though Thaiโบสถ์(RTGS:bot) may be used descriptively as with mosques.
According to Thai law, there are two types of Thai Buddhist temples:
A typical Buddhist wat consists of the following buildings:
Almost all Buddhist temples in Cambodia were built inKhmer architectural style. Most temples were finely decorated with a spiked tower (bosbok) (Khmer:បុស្បុក)(some temples have three or five spiked towers; some have none) on the rooftop along withpediments,nagaheads, and chovear (Khmer:ជហ្វា) (a decorative ridge-piece that is placed at each topmost edge of the roof, just above the tip of each pediment). Below the edge of the roof and at the top of external columns,garudaorkinnarifigures are depicted supporting the roof. There are a pair of guardian lions and one head or several (three, five, seven, or nine).nagasculptures are beside each entrance of the temple. Inside the main temple (vihara) and the multipurpose hall (lunch hall), mural paintings depict the life ofGautama Buddhaand his previous life.
The roofs of Thai temples are often adorned withchofas.
Some well-known wats include:
At the end of 2017, there were 4,872 wats with 69,199 Buddhist monks supportingBuddhism in Cambodia.By 2019, it was illustrated that 97.1 percent of the Cambodian population was Buddhist,making Cambodia to be one of the most predominant Buddhist nations in the world.
Despite having only 3.8 percent Buddhists in Kelantan, the northern Malaysian state ofKelantanhas numerous Thai wats.
As of 2016Thailand had 39,883 wats. Three hundred-ten were royal wats, the remainder were private (public). There were 298,580 Thai Buddhist monks, 264,442 of theMaha Nikayaorder and 34,138 of theDhammayuttika Nikayaorder. There were 59,587 Buddhist novice monks.