A ho trai ( th, หอไตร) is the

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

of a Thai Buddhist temple. A ho trai can come in different shapes and sizes. For many centuries, the sacred

Tipiṭaka The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During t ...

scriptures had been written on

palm leaves The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees. ...

. To preserve the scriptures against humidity and against

termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...

s, the library was often built on

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

s to raise the storage from the ground. Bricks were preferably used in constructions to battle termites. Sometimes the ho trai would be built, especially for this reason, above man-made ponds. Traditionally, the Tipiṭaka scriptures consisted of individual palm leaves, each measuring around 50 cm in length and around 4 to 6 cm in width. They were perforated and threaded in order to combine them in stacks of 20 to 40 pages. These stacks are kept pressed between two pieces of

teakwood Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

which is then wrapped in cloth and stored in a special bookcase. These bookcases are sometimes exquisitely crafted with

mother-of-pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother of pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is f ...

inlay or with

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

applied on black lacquer. Beautiful examples of bookcases can be seen in 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 ...

. Modern Tipiṭaka are now printed as books.

Gallery

File:Phetchaburiwysuwannaram9011.jpg, The ''Ho trai'' of Wat Yai Suwannaramt in

Phetchaburi Phetchaburi ( th, เพชรบุรี, ) or Phet Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phetchaburi Province. In Thai, Phetchaburi means "city of diamonds" (''buri'' meaning "city" in Sanskrit). It is approx ...

built above a pond File:Chedi_et_Haw_Trai,_Wat_Hua_Khuang.JPG, The ''Ho trai'' of Wat Hua Khuang in

Nan Nan or NAN may refer to: Places China * Nan County, Yiyang, Hunan, China * Nan Commandery, historical commandery in Hubei, China Thailand * Nan Province ** Nan, Thailand, the administrative capital of Nan Province * Nan River People Given name ...

File:Tungsrimuanglibrary.jpg, The ''Ho trai'' of Wat Tung Sri Muang in

Ubon Ratchathani Ubon Ratchathani ( th, อุบลราชธานี, ) is one of the four major cities of Isan (with Khorat/Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen), also known as the "big four of Isan." The city is on the Mun River in the south ...

File:Watrakhanghortrai052000b.jpg, The interior of the ''Ho trai'' of Wat Rakhang,

Khet Bangkok Noi Bangkok Noi ( th, บางกอกน้อย, ) is one of the 50 districts (''khet'') of Bangkok, Thailand. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Bang Phlat, Phra Nakhon (across Chao Phraya River), Bangkok Yai, Phasi Charoen, an ...

, Bangkok File:Ho trai Wat Apson Sawan.jpg, The "Ho trai" of Wat Apson Sawan,

khet Phasi Charoen Phasi Charoen ( th, ภาษีเจริญ, ) is one of the 50 districts (''Khet'') of Bangkok, Thailand. The district is bounded by other Bangkok districts (from north clockwise): Taling Chan, Bangkok Noi, Bangkok Yai, Thon Buri, Chom Th ...

, Bangkok

Gallery

See also