Aside from
pockets of Hindu-inspired
statuary and
architecture,
the vast
majority of
Thailand's
cultural
monuments take
their
inspiration from
Theravada
Buddhism, and so
it is temples
and religious
images that
constitute the
kingdom's main
sights.
The wat
or Buddhist
temple complex
serves both as a
community centre
and a shrine for
holy images. The
most important
wat building is
the bot, or "ordination
hall", which is
only open to
monks, and often
only
recognizable by
the eight
sema (boundary
stones)
surrounding it.
Often almost
identical to the
bot, the
viharn (assembly
hall) is for the
lay congregation,
and usually
contains the
wat's principal
Buddha image.
Thirdly, there's
the chedi,
a stupa which
was originally
conceived to
enshrine relics
of the Buddha,
but has since
become a place
to contain the
ashes of royalty
- and anyone
else who can
afford it.
In the
early days of
Buddhism ,
image-making was
considered
inadequate to
convey the
faith's abstract
philosophies,
but gradually
images of the
Buddha were
created,
construed
chiefly as
physical
embodiments of
his teachings
rather than as
portraits of the
man. Of the four
postures in
which the Buddha
is always
depicted, the
seated Buddha,
which represents
him in
meditation, is
the most common
in Thailand. The
reclining pose
symbolizes the
Buddha entering
Nirvana at his
death, while the
standing and
walking images
both represent
his descent from
Tavatimsa
heaven. Hindu
images tend to
be a lot
livelier than
Buddhist ones:
the most
commonly seen in
Thailand are
Vishnu, the
"Preserver" who
often appears in
his
manifestation of
Rama, the
epitome of ideal
manhood and
super-hero of
the epic story
the Ramayana.
Shiva (the
Destroyer) is
commonly
represented by a
lingam or
phallic pillar;
he is the father
of the
elephant-headed
boy Ganesh.
In the 1920s,
art historians
compiled a
classification
system for Thai
art and
architecture
which was
modelled along
the lines of the
country's
historical
periods. The
first really
significant
period is known
as the Khmer
and Lopburi era
(tenth to
fourteenth
centuries), when
the Hindu Khmers
of Angkor built
hundreds of
imposing stone
castle-temples,
or prasat,
across their
newly acquired
"Thai" territory
- blueprints for
the even more
magnificent
Angkor Wat.
Almost every
surface of these
sanctuaries was
adorned with
intricate
carvings of
Hindu deities,
incarnations and
stories. The
very finest of
the remaining
prasat are
at Phimai and
Phanom Rung in
Thailand's
northeast.
During the Khmer
period the
former Theravada
Buddhist
principality of
Lopburi produced
a distinctive
style of
broad-faced,
muscular Buddha
statue, wearing
an ornamental
headband - a nod
to the Khmers'
ideological
fusion of
earthly and
heavenly power.
The
Sukhothai period
(thirteenth to
fifteenth
centuries) is
considered the
acme of Thai
artistic
endeavour, and
is particularly
famous for its
elegantly
sinuous Buddha
sculptures,
instantly
recognizable by
their slim oval
faces and
slender
curvaceous
bodies.
Sukhothai-era
architects also
devised the
equally graceful
lotus-bud chedi,
a slender tower
topped with a
tapered finial
that was to
become a
hallmark of the
era. Examples of
Sukhothai art
and architecture
can be seen
across the
country, but the
finest are found
in the old city
of Sukhothai
itself.
Though
essentially
Theravada
Buddhists, the
Ayutthayan
kings
(fourteenth to
eighteenth
centuries) also
adopted some
Hindu and
Brahmin beliefs
from the Khmers.
Their architects
retained the
concentric
layout of Khmer
temples,
elongated the
prang - central
tower - into a
corncob-shaped
tower, and
adapted the
Sukhothai-style
chedi. Like the
Lopburi images,
early Ayutthayan
Buddha statues
wear crowns to
associate
kingship with
Buddhahood; as
the court became
ever more
lavish, so these
figures became
increasingly
adorned, with
earrings,
armlets, anklets
and coronets.
When Bangkok
emerged as
Ayutthaya's
successor, the
new capital's
founder was
determined to
revive the old
city's grandeur,
and the
Ratanakosin
(or Bangkok)
period
(eighteenth
century to
present) began
by aping what
the Ayutthayans
had done. Since
then, neither
wat architecture
nor religious
sculpture has
evolved much
further.
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