Thai temple art and architecture

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Ubosot of Wat Hong Rattanaram, Bangkok

Thai temple art and architecture is the art and architecture of

Buddhist temples in Thailand. Temples are known as wats, from the Pāḷi vāṭa, meaning "enclosure". A temple has an enclosing wall that divides it from the secular world. Temples served as a stabilizing center in these communities because their sacred teachings became a basis of authority and boundaries, their precincts became places of instruction, their regimes of common ownership of property formed them into economic centers, and their functions allowed them to serve at the heart of these communities in a variety of ways.[1]

Architecture

Wat

Sangkhawat
.

Phutthawat

The Phutthawat (Thai: พุทธาวาส) is the area which is dedicated to Buddha. It generally contains several buildings:

The buildings are often adorned with elements such as chofas.

In temples of the

Rattanakosin era, such as Wat Pho and Wat Ratchabophit, the ubosot can be contained within a (low) inner wall called a Kamphaeng Kaeo (Thai
: กำแพงแก้ว), which translates to "crystal wall".

Sangkhawat

Nakhon Nayok

The sangkhawat (Thai: สังฆาวาส) contains the monks' living quarters. It lies within the wall surrounding the temple compound. The sangkhawat can have the following buildings:

  • Kuti (Thai: กุฏิ) – originally a small structure, built on stilts, designed to house a monk, with its proper size defined in the Sangkhathiset, rule 6, to be 12 by 7 kheup (4.013 by 2.343 meters). Modern kutis take the shape of an apartment building with small rooms.
  • The sangkhawat can contain the 'Ho rakhang' (bell tower) and even the 'Sala Kan Parian' (sermon hall).
  • Houses most of the functional buildings such as the kitchen.

Temple elements

Basic Lamyong decorative structure of roof

Roof forms

Temples display multiple roof tiers. The use of ornamented tiers is reserved for roofs on temples, palaces and important public buildings. Two or three tiers are most often used, but some royal temples have four. The practice is more aesthetic than functional. Temple halls and their roofs are large. To lighten the roof's appearance, the lowest tier is the largest with a smaller middle layer and the smallest tier on top. Multiple breaks in each roof lighten it further – a double-tiered roof might have 2–4 breaks in each tier. The tiers, breaks and tier patterns create dynamic visual rhythms. In northern temples, the roof area is larger, sweeping low to cover more of the wall. The lower tiers telescope toward the entrance. In a central Thai temple, the lower tiers reach a short distance beyond the top roof at the gable ends.

Roof finials

Most decorations are attached to the

Chofah
, which resembles the beak of a bird, perhaps representing Garuda.

Popular temple icons

Thai

Ganesh; the Nāga, which appears as a snake, dragon or cobra; and the ghost-banishing giant Yaksha
.

See also

Phra Achana Buddha, Wat Si Chum, Sukhothai Historical Park

Depictions of the Buddha

Statues and ornamentation: deities, demons and mythical beings

Architectural elements

General

References

  1. ISSN 2571-9408
    .

Sources

  • Discovery Channel by Scott Rutherford, "Insight Guides: Thailand.", APA Publications GmbH & Co., 2004.
  • Discovery Channel by Steve Van Beek, "Insight Pocket Guide: Thailand.", APA Publications GmbH & Co., 2004.
  • Maria Grazia Casella and Paola Piacco, "Thailand: Nature and Wonders.", Asia Books Co,.Ltd., 2004.
  • John Hoskin and Gerald Cubitt, "This is Thailand.", Asia Books Co., Ltd., 2003

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buddhist temple architecture of Thailand.
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