Thai temple art and architecture is the art and architecture of

Buddhist temples A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

in Thailand. Temples are known as ''

wat A wat ( km, វត្ត, ; lo, ວັດ, ; th, วัด, ; khb, 「ᩅᨯ᩠ᨰ」(waD+Dha); nod, 「ᩅ᩠ᨯ᩶」（w+Da2)) is a type of Buddhist temple and Hindu temple in Cambodia, Laos, East Shan State, Yunnan, the Southern Provi ...

''s, from the

Pāḷi Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhis ...

''vāṭa'', meaning "enclosure". A temple has an enclosing wall that divides it from the secular world.

Architecture

Wat

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

adheres to consistent principles. A wat, with few exceptions, consists of two parts: the ''Phutthawat'' and the '' Sangkhawat''.

Phutthawat

The Phutthawat ( th, พุทธาวาส) is the area which is dedicated to Buddha. It generally contains several buildings: * Chedi ( th, เจดีย์) – also known as a Stupa it is mostly in the form of a bell-shaped tower, often accessible and covered with gold leaf, containing a relic chamber. * Prang ( th, ปรางค์) – the Thai version of Khmer temple towers, mostly in temples from the Sukhothai and the Ayutthaya period. * Ubosot or Bot ( th, อุโบสถ or th, โบสถ์) – the ordination hall and most sacred area of a wat. Eight ''Sema stones'' ( Bai Sema, th, ใบเสมา) mark the consecrated area. * Wihan ( th, วิหาร) – a shrine hall that contains the principal Buddha images. It is the assembly hall where monks and laypeople congregate. *

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 ...

( th, มณฑป) - specific square- or cruciform-based building or shrine, sometimes with a spired roof. It is a ceremonial form that can be appear on different kinds of buildings. It can house relics, sacred scriptures or act as a shrine. Unlike the '' Mandapa'' of Khmer or Indian temple, which are part of a larger structure, the Thai Mondop is free-standing. *

Ho trai A ho trai ( th, หอไตร) is the library of a Thai Buddhist temple. A ho trai can come in different shapes and sizes. For many centuries, the sacred Tipiṭaka scriptures had been written on palm leaves. To preserve the scriptures aga ...

( th, หอไตร) – the temple library or scriptures depository houses the sacred Tipiṭaka scriptures. Sometimes they are built in the form of a

( th, พระมณฑป), a cubical-shaped building where the pyramidal roof is carried by columns. * Sala ( th, ศาลา) – an open

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

providing shade and a place to rest. * Sala kan parian ( th, ศาลาการเปรียญ) – a large, open hall where laity can hear sermons or receive religious education. It literally means "hall, in which monks study for their Parian exam" and is used for chanting afternoon prayers. * Ho rakhang ( th, หอระฆัง) – bell tower that is used for waking the monks and to announce the morning and evening ceremonies. *Phra rabiang ( th, พระระเบียง) – a

peristyle In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; from Greek ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. Tetrastoön ( grc, τετράστῳον or τετράστοον, lit=f ...

sometimes built around the sacred inner area as a cloister. *Ancillary buildings such as a

crematorium A crematorium or crematory is a venue for the cremation of the dead. Modern crematoria contain at least one cremator (also known as a crematory, retort or cremation chamber), a purpose-built furnace. In some countries a crematorium can also b ...

or a school. 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'' ( th, กำแพงแก้ว), which translates to "crystal wall". File:Chmwchiangman8610a.jpg, Ubosot, Ho Trai and Chedi (from left to right) of Wat Chiang Man, built in

Lanna 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 ...

architecture File:Ubosot of Wat Nim.jpg, Ubosot of Wat Nimmanoradi,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in 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 estimated populati ...

File:IMAG1168 01.jpg, An ancient Ayutthaya-style Ubosot without Chofas located at Wat Oi, Ang Thong, similar to Ubosot of Wat Phutthaisawan, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya File:Gran Palacio, Bangkok, Tailandia, 2013-08-22, DD 26.jpg, Ubosot with multiple front roof located at Wat Phra Kaew,

File:Wat Ratcha Orasaram วัดราชโอรสาราม 2019 22.jpg, Thai-Chinese Ubosot rebuilt in

King Rama III Nangklao ( th, พระบาทสมเด็จพระนั่งเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว, ; 31 March 1788 – 2 April 1851), birth name Thap ( th, ทับ), also styled Rama III, was the third king of Siam u ...

period, single front roof, without Chofas located at Wat Ratchaorasaram,

File:The Four Chedi of Wat Pho (III).jpg, Chedi of Wat Pho,

File:Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan(วัดอรุณราชวราราม).JPG, Prang of Wat Arun,

File:วัดไผ่ล้อม พระอารามหลวง.jpg,

Reclining Buddha A reclining Buddha is an image that represents Buddha lying down and is a major iconographic theme in Buddhist art. It represents the historical Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana. He is lying on his right side, his hea ...

inside Wihan Phra Non (Wihan of Reclining Buddha) of Wat Phai Lom, Chnathaburi File:Phra Mondop.jpg, Mondop of Wat Phra Kaew,

File:Ho trai Wat Apson Sawan (II).jpg, Ho Trai of Wat Apson Sawan,

File:Guti Wat Rachathiwat.jpg, Sermon hall of Wat Rachathiwat,

File:Wat Ratchabopit (I).jpg, Wat Ratchabopit,

File:Haw Klawng Rakhang, Wat Phra That Chang Kham , Nan.jpg, Ho Rakhang of Wat Phra That Chang Kham,

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:Wat Ben - Back.jpg, Ubosot of

Wat Benchamabophit Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram ( th, วัดเบญจมบพิตรดุสิตวนาราม; ) is a Buddhist temple ( wat) in the Dusit District of Bangkok, Thailand. Also known as the marble temple, it is one of Bangkok's bes ...

File:Ayutthaya - Wat Phanom Yong - 0010.jpg, Crematoria of Wat Phanom Yong, Ayuthhaya File:Kamphengkaeowatrajbopit02.jpg, Kamphaeng Kaeo surrounding the Ubosot of Wat Ratchabophit,

Sangkhawat

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

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

bargeboard Bargeboard (probably from Medieval Latin ''bargus'', or ''barcus'', a scaffold, and not from the now obsolete synonym "vergeboard") or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to ...

, the long, thin panel on the edge of the roof at the gable ends. The decorative structure is called the ''lamyong''. The ''lamyong'' is sculpted in an undulating, serpentine ''nag sadung'' shape evoking the '' Nāga''. Its blade-like projection called ''bai raka'' suggest both '' Nāga'' fins and the feathers of

Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda ...

. Its lower finial is called a ''hang hong'', which usually takes the form of a '' Nāga'''s head turned up and facing away from the roof. The '' Nāga'' head may be styled in flame-like ''kranok'' motifs and may have multiple heads. A roof with multiple breaks or tiers has identical ''hang hong'' finials at the bottom of each section. Perched on the peak of the ''lamyong'' is the large curving ornament called a '' Chofah'', which resembles the beak of a bird, perhaps representing Garuda.

Popular temple icons

Thai Theravada Buddhism and Hindu cultures merged, and Hindu elements were introduced into Thai iconography. Popular figures include the four-armed figure of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

; the

garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda ...

(half man, half bird); the eight-armed

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

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

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

External links

Wat Thai: DhammathaiBuddhist Art: Architecture Pt.1
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thai Temple Art And Architecture Architecture in Thailand Traditional Thai architecture Buddhist architecture

Architecture

Phutthawat

Sangkhawat

Temple elements

Roof forms

Roof finials

Popular temple icons

See also

Depictions of the Buddha

Statues and ornamentation: deities, demons and mythical beings

Architectural elements

General

Sources

Further reading

External links