Golden Buddha, Wat Traimit Temple, Bangkok, Thailand Royalty-Free Stock Photography

The main attraction at the Wat Traimit temple (Bangkok, Thailand) is undoubtedly the impressive 3m-tall, 5.5-tonne, solid-gold Buddha statue, which gleams like, well, gold. Sculpted in the graceful Sukhothai style, the image was discovered some 40 years ago beneath a stucco or plaster exterior, when it fell from a crane while being moved to a new building within the temple compound. It has been theorised that the covering was added to protect it from marauding hordes, either during the late Sukhothai period or later in the Ayuthaya period when the city was under siege by the Burmese. The temple itself is said to date from the early 13th century.