A ''busabok'' ( th, บุษบก, ) is a small open structure used in

Thai culture Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode bloc ...

as a throne for the monarch or for the enshrinement of Buddha images or other sacred objects. It is square-based and open-sided, usually with twelve indented corners, with four posts supporting a roughly pyramidal multi-tiered roof culminating in a pointed spire, and usually richly decorated. The structure of the multi-tiered roof is very similar, but much smaller in size, to the ''

mondop The ''mondop'' ( th, มณฑป, from Pali/Sanskrit ) is a building form in traditional Thai religious architecture featuring a square or cruciform building with a usually pointed roof. In the narrow sense, it refers to an enclosed square buildin ...

'' architectural form. The term is derived from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

word , a reference to the

Pushpaka Vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also mentio ...

, a flying chariot from the Hindu epic ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

'' (and the Thai version ''

Ramakien The ( th, รามเกียรติ์, , ; ; sometimes also spelled ) is one of Thailand's national epics, derived from the Buddhist Dasaratha Jataka. Fundamentally, it is a Thai version of the Hindu epic Ramayana. Ramakien is an importan ...

''). ''Busabok'' are used for royal thrones, including the

Busabok Mala Throne A ''busabok'' ( th, บุษบก, ) is a small open structure used in Thai culture as a throne for the monarch or for the enshrinement of Buddha images or other sacred objects. It is square-based and open-sided, usually with twelve indented cor ...

in the

Amarin Winitchai Throne Hall The Grand Palace ( th, พระบรมมหาราชวัง, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. .) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Ban ...

of the

Grand Palace The Grand Palace ( th, พระบรมมหาราชวัง, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. .) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Ban ...

, as well as the thrones used ceremonially in

royal barge procession Thailand's Royal Barge Procession ( th, กระบวนพยุหยาตราชลมารค; RTGS: ''krabuan phayuhayattra chonlamak'') is a ceremony of both religious and royal significance which has taken place for nearly 700 years ...

s. Smaller ''busabok'' are used to house objects associated with the king—an early documented example was used to carry the royal letter of King

Narai King Narai the Great ( th, สมเด็จพระนารายณ์มหาราช, , ) or Ramathibodi III ( th, รามาธิบดีที่ ๓ ) was the 27th monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom, the 4th and last monarch of the Pr ...

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

in the

1686 Siamese embassy to France The Siamese embassy to France in 1686 was the second such mission from the Kingdom of Siam. The embassy was sent by King Narai and led by ambassador Kosa Pan. This embassy was preceded by the First Siamese Embassy to France, composed of two Siamese ...

. ''Busabok'' are also used as shrines housing Buddha images, notably the

Emerald Buddha The Emerald Buddha ( th, พระแก้วมรกต , or ) is an image of the meditating Gautama Buddha seated in a meditative posture, made of a semi-precious green stone (jasper rather than emerald or jade), clothed in gold. and about ...

Wat Phra Kaew Wat Phra Kaew ( th, วัดพระแก้ว, , ), commonly known in English as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and officially as Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram, is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. The complex co ...

and

Phra Phuttha Sihing The Phra Phuttha Sihing ( th, พระพุทธสิหิงค์) is a highly revered image of the Gautama Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand, second in importance only after the Emerald Buddha. The image is currently housed at the Phutthaisawan ...

at the

Bangkok National Museum The Bangkok National Museum ( th, พิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งชาติ พระนคร, ) is the main branch museum of the National Museums in Thailand and also one of the largest museums in Southeast Asia. It featu ...

. Very large versions have formed the design of the temporary crematoria used for royal funerals of previous kings. The ''busabok'' was also the basis for a style of Buddhist pulpit known as ''thammat yot'' or ''busabok thammat''.

Gallery

File:Gran Palacio, Bangkok, Tailandia, 2013-08-22, DD 57 (Cropped).jpg, Busabok Mala Throne (rear-left) File:Anantanagaraj.jpg, Royal Barge Anantanakkharat File:Royal missive carriage, Paris, 1686-09-01.jpg, French engraving of the 1686 embassy File:พระราชวังบวรสถานมงคล เขตพระนคร กรุงเทพมหานคร (24).jpg, Phra Phuttha Sihing File:Royal crematorium of King Rama IX - Day.jpg, Royal crematorium of King Bhumibol Adulyadej File:พระราชพิธี เจ้าฟ้าเพชร 1.jpg, Royal funeral carriage Maha Phichai Ratcharot

References

{{reflist Thai art Thai monarchy Thai Buddhist art and architecture

Gallery

See also

References