This Unique Temple In Thailand Is Made Of Thousands Of Beer Bottles, But, Dear, They Don’t Serve Beer

The Wat Pa Maha Chedio Kaew temple, which sits in Thailand’s Sisaket province, roughly 370 miles northeast of Bangkok, does not require much explanation from any tourist guide. The pictures really speak for themselves. The entire temple complex is constructed using an unconventional material – empty beer bottles. And that too over 1.5 million beer bottles that form every detail of the buildings, inside and out.

 

The project was started in 1984 promote recycling and the cleaning of the landscape as there was huge dump of litter in the Sisaket area of Thailand.

 

The beer bottles used here are mostly green Heineken and brown Chang (the local favorite).

 

The monks encouraged everyone in the area to bring them recycled beer bottles that would be used to build a temple complex. The result was Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew: the Million Bottle Temple.

 

The monks began with a temple and later formed a crematorium, water towers, sleeping quarters and even toilets.

 

Ever since the completion of the main building, more buildings have been added.

 

Besides being ego-friendly, the disused bottles provide good lighting and are easy to clean.

 

Aside from whole bottles, the monks also incorporated bottle caps to create mosaics and Buddhist designs inside of the temple.

 

The beer-bottle-temple is now on an approved list of eco-friendly sightseeing tours in South-East Asia.