Thai Buddhist Temples: Buddha Enlightment (Photo Book Book 116)

There are a total of 40,717 Buddhist temples (Thai: Wat) in Thailand as of 31 December 2004, of which 33,902 are in current use, according to the Office of National Buddhism.[1] Of the 33,902 active temples, 31,890 are of the Maha Nikaya and 1,987 are of the Dhammayuttika Nikaya orders of the Theravada school, while 12 are of the Chinese Nikaya and 13 are of the Anam Nikaya orders of the Mahayana school. Two hundred and seventy-two temples, 217 of the Maha Nikaya order and 55 of the Dhammayut order, hold the status of royal temple. Royal wisungkhamasima (Pali: visuṃ gmasīm) , official recognition of a temple's legitimacy, has been granted to 20,281 temples. The following is a very partial list of Buddhist temples in Thailand:
The English term enlightenment is the western translation of the term bodhi, "awakening", which was popularised in the Western world through the 19th century translations of Max Müller. It has the western connotation of a sudden insight into a transcendental truth.
The term is also being used to translate several other Buddhist terms and concepts used to denote insight (prajna, kensho and satori) , knowledge (vidhya) ; the "blowing out" (Nirvana) of disturbing emotions and desires and the subsequent freedom or release (vimutti) ; and the attainment of Buddhahood, as exemplified by Gautama Buddha.