At the Wat Rong Khun Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand, Batman, Ultraman, and other scifi stalwarts are inexplicably hanging out in religious paintings. I’m no religion scholar, but something tells me the Predator never factored into Siddhartha Gautama’s teachings.
Here’s how Brent Lambert from FEELGuide sums up Wat Rong Khun:
All of the paintings inside the ubosot (assembly hall) have golden tones. The four walls, ceiling and floor contain paintings showing an escape from the defilements of temptation to reach a celestial “all seeing” state […] Undoubtedly the most bizarre element of the design is the presence of contemporary images throughout the interior. Images of the Predator from the Schwarzenegger film franchise, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Avatar, Keanu Reeves’ character in the Matrix, rocket ships, and others line the walls.
Here are some more photos from Wat Rong Khun. And for more Buddhist science fiction art, check out Tibetan artist Gade’s paintings of Spider-Man, the Hulk, and others.
https://gizmodo.com/tibetan-artist-turns-hulk-and-spider-man-into-himalayan-5506269
[Spotted on Boing Boing. Additional photos via Earth Portals.]
