To seek New Year blessings, Buddhists are invited to pay respects to 10 of the major Buddha statues from the Front Palace (Wang Na) at Phutthaisawan Throne Hall of the National Museum Bangkok from 9am-4pm daily from today until Sunday.
The objectives of the activity are to allow the people to worship the Buddha statues and express their gratitude towards the previous and current Thai monarchs and to raise public awareness of the importance of national heritage.
The statues on display are Phra Buddha Sihing, the Front Palace's most important Buddha statue, Phra Buddha Rattana Maha Munee (Phra Kaew Noi) and eight other crowned statues, including Phra Bhaisajyaguru (the Medicine Buddha) and Phra Lom, or Phra Haroi (500 Buddha statues), to name only a few.
Phra Buddha Sihing was made of gold bronze in the Sukhothai-Lanna art style, around the late 15th-16th centuries. According to legend, Phra Buddha Sihing was commissioned by a king of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 147 AD to resemble Lord Buddha. During the reign of King Ramkhamhaeng the Great of Sukhothai Kingdom, the monarch requested the Buddha statue and had it enshrined in Sukhothai.
Phra Buddha Rattana Maha Munee (Phra Kaew Noi).
After the downturn of Sukhothai, the statue was moved to several cities. It is believed that the statue was taken to Chiang Mai after the fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1767. During Songkran, Phra Buddha Sihing was taken on a procession to Sanam Luang for the people to sprinkle scented water over and ask for blessings.
Meanwhile, the creation of crowned Buddha statues is a way to make merit for the past monarchs and to support Buddhism. The practice might have been inspired by the way people presented Buddha statues with gold jewellery, according to Prince Damrong Rajanuphap's book Tamnan Buddha Chedi (Legends Of Buddhist Pagodas). The tradition dates to the Gupta Period of India (around 320 to 550 AD). It was later spread to present-day Thailand and has been widely practiced from the Ayutthaya to the Rattanakosin periods.
The crowned Buddha images for people to worship the Lord Buddha as an emperor were inspired by Mahayana Buddhism and the Hindu cult of Devaraja (Divine Kingship). Such Buddha statues are mostly found in royal palaces. The practice of royals building crowned Buddhas in dedication to late kings and royals was popular from the reign of King Rama I to that of King Rama III. The first batch consists of Phra Buddha Chullachak and Phra Buddha Chakraphat, commissioned by King Rama I in honour of his father, Phra Pathomboromratchachanok, and the kings of Ayutthaya and Thon Buri.
The belief about Phra Sri Ariyamettrai, the future Lord Buddha, has continued in Thailand since the Dvaravati period (around the 7th century). The Buddhist scripture entitled Trai Phum Phra Ruang, penned by King Lithai of the Sukhothai Kingdom, teaches to do good and make merit so as to meet Phra Sri Ariyamettrai in their next lives. Some of the crowned Buddhas from the Ayutthaya period were created according to this belief. An inscription on the base of a crowned Buddha image at Wat Chumpol Nikayaram in Ayutthaya says King Prasart Thong had the statue of Phra Sri Ariyamettrai built here.
-- Pichaya Svasti
Contact the National Museum Bangkok at 02-224-1333.
