Went on one of my photo-walks today, this time down in Sathorn.

My first stop was at Wat Yannawa. I had been before, but was pleased this time that the ubosot was open and quite busy with Thais visiting a monk. In the very large central building the "roff" was open, so that was nice. In the bottom level of that building is what appears to be a display area. I went in and found perhaps 20 small glass chedis, each containing relics of Buddha, particularly parts of his brain. They were primarily tiny pellets, most smaller than a drop of water (for example). It was a very peaceful place, very busy, very reverential, no photos allowed. I wonder what people think of this?

Later I stopped at Wat Don. Quite interesting. As soon as I entered I thought...strong Burmese influence. Indeed, upon leaving I saw the historical sign and it is a Burmese-based temple. Going into the...hmmm...now I don't recall if it was the ubosot or wiharn...I discovered 8 or so women dressed in white (which I also saw on visits to Burman), along with one monk in his saffron robes. The women were very slowly walking around the interior of the temple, apparently in meditation. Is this walking meditation common? I am not familiar with it.

As to my usual rant...about half the temples I stopped at were basically shut up, no locals visiting, although at one there were almost a dozen monks sitting around socializing...and I do mean socializing. On the other hand, the two temples that were "open" were very busy with locals.

You might get some edification from the previous discussion on Buddha relics, ringsel, etc here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Buddha-s-Fin...&hl=ringsel

Walking meditation is quite common in the satipatthana vipassana meditation tradition in Thailand, Myanmar and elsewhere. If done in very slow motion it's probably the Mahasi Sayadaw method, which has spread all over the world over the last 30-40 years.

I've lived in Thailand 33 years now and come across many wats with closed buildings during that time. They say the number of monks is declining and if that's true then more buildings will be closed. There are a number of other explanations however, including security, reducing utility costs, etc.