The Thai Buddhist temple, or wat, is not a building, but a place, a complex that serves as a community center for religious rites, learning, social life, recreation and even festivals. The wat is also a small community in itself, since almost every wat is also a monastery.
The complex is geographically aligned, starting from the ordination hall, whose entrance side faces east. Next to it are one or more assembly halls, or viharn, housing Buddhist images and murals.*
*Architecture of Thailand by Nithi Sthapitanonda and Brian Mertens
