wat arun

Legacy Guardians – Wat Arun, Bangkok, Thailand

At Wat Arun, one of Thailand’s most iconic temples, stood a collection of Chinese stone guardians dating back over 200 years — lions, door sentinels, and noble figures placed to protect sacred thresholds. Time had softened their edges and fractured their forms. The task was not to repair, but to resurrect — to protect the artist’s original intent and allow the legacy to live forward without interruption.

BMG approached this commission as a sacred responsibility. Using 3D scanning technology, we captured not only the broken fragments but the millimeter-precise soul of each figure. Every surface, curve, and texture was recorded in full fidelity. This raw data became the spiritual blueprint for renewal.

Each form was re-sculpted from green marble — a dense, enduring stone chosen for both longevity and surface character. Using a 5-axis CNC system, we translated the scan into exact material dimensions. Then, with the original artifacts laid side by side, our artisans refined every contour by hand. Where the machine delivered structure, the human hand restored presence.

From lions to Western-style gatekeepers, every element was matched — not copied, but continued. Each is now reborn not as a replica, but as an immutable extension of the original. This is not restoration. It is remembrance in form.

Stone: Green Marble Size: Life-sized statuary (variable) Client: Wat Arun Ratchawararam Tools Used: 3D scanning, 5-axis CNC carving, side-by-side hand finishing with original artifacts Purpose: To restore, preserve, and perpetuate the 200-year-old legacy of Wat Arun’s stone guardians Location: Wat Arun, Bangkok, Thailand