The Phra Phuttha Sihing ( th, พระพุทธสิหิงค์) is a highly revered image of the

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, second in importance only after 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 ...

. The image is currently housed at the Phutthaisawan Hall (formerly a part of the

Front Palace Krom Phra Ratchawang Bowon Sathan Mongkhon , colloquially known as the Front Palace ( th, วังหน้า, ), was the title of the ''uparaja'' of Siam, variously translated as "viceroy", "vice king" or "Lord/Prince of the Front Palace", as ...

), now 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 ...

. The image was brought to Bangkok from

Wat Phra Singh Wat Phra Singh (full name: Wat Phra Singh Woramahaviharn; th, วัดพระสิงห์วรมหาวิหาร; ;pronunciation; nod, ) is a Buddhist temple ( Thai language: Wat) in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. King Anan ...

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

in 1795 by

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

Maha Sura Singhanat Somdet Phra Bawornrajchao Maha Sura Singhanat ( th, สมเด็จพระบวรราชเจ้ามหาสุรสิงหนาท; , lit: ''His Royal Highness, Maharurasinghanat, Prince of Front Palace'') (1 November 1744 – ...

, the brother of King

Rama I Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok Maharaj (, 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), personal name Thongduang (), also known as Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom and the first monarch of the reigning Chakri dynasty of Siam (now Tha ...

History

The exact provenance of the Phra Phuttha Sihing image is still in question. The name ''Sihing'' comes from '' Sinhala'' the name of several kingdoms in Sri Lanka. According to legend the Phra Phuttha Sihing image was created in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

around 157 A.D. and was brought to Thailand in 1307 to Sukhothai. Later it was relocated to

Phitsanulok Phitsanulok ( th, พิษณุโลก, ) is an important, historic city in lower northern Thailand and is the capital of Phitsanulok Province. Phitsanulok is home to Naresuan University and Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, as well as ...

Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...

in 1378,

Kamphaeng Phet Kamphaeng Phet is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand, former capital of the Kamphaeng Phet Province. It covers the complete ''tambon'' Nai Mueang of the Mueang Kamphaeng Phet district. As of 2020, it has a population of 28,817. Hi ...

in 1382 and

Chiang Rai Chiang Rai ( th, เชียงราย, ; nod, , เจียงฮาย, ) is the northernmost major city in Thailand, with a population of about 200,000 people. It is located in Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai Province. Chiang Rai ...

in 1388, before it was brought back to Ayutthaya again and then back to Chiang Mai in 1407, where it was enshrined at

. When 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 ...

conquered Chiang Mai in 1662, he brought the Buddha image back to Ayutthaya, where it was enshrined for 105 years at

Wat Phra Si Sanphet Wat Phra Si Sanphet ( th, วัดพระศรีสรรเพชญ์; "Temple of the Holy, Splendid Omniscient") was the holiest temple on the site of the old Royal Palace in Thailand's ancient capital of Ayutthaya until the city was compl ...

until the Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, following which, the people of Chiang Mai brought the Buddha Sihing image back to Chiang Mai. In 1795 the image was taken from Chiang Mai by King

and his brother the Viceroy

to Bangkok, as

war booty Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

. At first the image was enshrined at the

of the

, after his death in 1803 the image was moved to the

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 c ...

in 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 ...

by Rama I. It remained there until 1851, when King

Mongkut Mongkut ( th, มงกุฏ; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth monarch of Siam (Thailand) under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was ''Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibod ...

raised his younger brother Prince Chutamani to the unprecedented rank of Second King

Pinklao Pinklao ( th, ปิ่นเกล้า) (September 4, 1808 – January 7, 1866) was the viceroy of Siam. He was the younger brother of Mongkut, King Rama IV, who crowned him as a monarch with equal honor to himself. Early life Prince Chutama ...

. In order to celebrate the newly elevated status of Pinklao, King Mongkut gave the Second King the Phra Phuttha Sihing image. Considered the second most important Buddha image after the

. The image was then taken back to the Front Palace (now the palace of Pinklao), where it was housed in the Phutthaisawan Hall, where it remains today. Apart from the aforementioned image in Bangkok, at least two other images in Thailand are identified with the Phra Phutta Sihing. One at Hor Phrabhut Sihing,

Nakhon Si Thammarat Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat pro ...

and the other at

, Chiang Mai.

Description

The image is of the Buddha seated in the meditative posture (''vajrāsana'' or

meditation attitude Meditation Attitude (Buddhism) ( Khmer: ព្រះពុទ្ធសម្មាធិ, ''preah pud (buddha) samathi'', th, ปางสมาธิ; ), also known as meditating Buddha, is an attitude of Buddha in Thai, Burmese, Khmer, Lao, ...

), a stance commonly associated with Buddhist art found in Sri Lanka. This image was made of cast

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and

gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

with

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. The image was sculpted in classic

Lan Na The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...

and Sukhothai style, but using Singhalese iconography. The images's facial features and long fingers are indicative of classic Lan Na style. The Sukhothai characteristics seems to manifest in the image's full cheeks and hooked nose. Along with these classical features, the image shows features that is suggestive of its northern origins. The removable

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

on top of the head, the small spiky hair curls, the raised area above the upper lip, dimpling at the corner of the mouth and the style of the shawl began to appear in Lan Na images around 1480s - 1500s. The proof of the image's northern manufacture is in the

Lotus throne In Asian art a lotus throne, sometimes lotus platform, is a stylized lotus flower used as the seat or base for a figure. It is the normal pedestal for divine figures in Buddhist art and Hindu art, and often seen in Jain art. Originating in Indi ...

, the pedestal with its lotus petal decorations, the filament making vertical striations and the anther or head creating a beaded rim to the plinth. These are features found only in Lan Na art. The

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

flame finial on the top of the head is unusual, since most bronze images will have a bronze finial. In Lan Na however the finials are cast separately and is removable, whereas in Sukhothai the whole image is always cast whole. The crystal material used for the image's flame finial is indicative of the special status of the image.

Gallery

พระราชวังบวรสถานมงคล เขตพระนคร กรุงเทพมหานคร (2).JPG, The Phutthaisawan Throne Hall (formerly a part of the

), now the

. พระราชวังบวรสถานมงคล เขตพระนคร กรุงเทพมหานคร (24).jpg, The interior of the Phutthaisawan Throne Hall with the Phra Phuttha Sihing in the central place of worship. พระราชวังบวรสถานมงคล เขตพระนคร กรุงเทพมหานคร (18).jpg, The Phra Phuttha Sihing in Bangkok Interior Viharn Lai Kam Phra Singh Temple 2 2010.jpg, The Phra Phuttha Sihing or Phra Singh ( th, พระสิงห์) at

. Phra Phuttha Sihing, Nakhon Si Thammarat (หอพระสิหิงค์).jpg, The Phra Phuttha Sihing at Hor Phrabhut Sihing at

. Phra Phuttha Sihing in Wat Ratchapradit.jpg, A replica of the Bangkok Phra Phuttha Sihing, used as the principal Buddha image of

Wat Ratchapradit Wat Ratchapradit Sathit Mahasimaram Ratcha Wora Maha Viharn ( th, วัดราชประดิษฐสถิตมหาสีมารามราชวรวิหาร) is a Buddhist temple in the Phra Nakhon District of Bangkok. Wat R ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em Front Palace 15th-century sculptures Buddha statues in Thailand Bronze Buddha statues Northern Thai culture Collections of the Bangkok National Museum

History

Description

Gallery

See also

References