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Publications Archaeology • Architecture • Cambodia & SEA

Iconographical Issues in the Archaeology of Wat Phra Men, Nakhon Pathom

by Nicolas Revire

The colossal Buddhas of central Thailand temples and their significance in the evolution of regional Buddhism during the 7th and 8th centuries.

 
Publication
Journal of The Siam Society, Vol. 98, pp 75-116
Published
2010
Author
Nicolas Revire
Pages
41
Language
English
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Wat Phra Men is one of the most important structures at Nakhon Pathom archaeological site, in modern central Thailand. The author revisits its sculptures in order to better understand the evolution of Buddhism sects in the region during ancient times.

The Khmer influence on the renovation and restructuration of this temple-mandala is discussed in detail, the author noting that “[archaeologist Jean] Boisselier has discussed traces of later additions, or Khmer restorations, at Wat Phra Men, which he set in relation with the last stage (state III) of the monument. Of particular interest for Boisselier was the presence of an ogival step (“en accolade”) at each axial projection, hitherto unknown in the art of Dvāravatī but characteristic of Khmer architecture.”

Nakhon Pathom (Thai นครปฐม) iS a city 57 km west of Bangkok, known from its giant Phra Pathom Chedi and home to Thailand’s only Bhikkhuni temple, Wat Song Thammakanlayani (วัดทรงธรรมกัลยาณี), which is also open to women from abroad. Sanskrit inscriptions attest that Nakhon Pathom was the largest Dvaravati center in the region.

Tags: Thailand, Dvaravati, architecture, archaeology

About the Author

Nicolas Revire

Nicolas Revire

A specialist in Southeast Asian Buddhism, Early Art and Archaeology studies, Nicolas Revire is post-doctoral research fellowship at the Art Institute of Chicago since early 2023, after lecturing at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University, Thailand, and being a guest lecturer at Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University, Bangkok, for more than 20 years.

With a research focus on Buddhist iconography and Dvāravatī with special focus on Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia, Nicolas Revire has contributed several articles and reviews in the Journal of the Siam Society and other academic publications, and translated numerous scholarly publications from Thai and English into French.

He edited (with Stephen A. Murphy) Before Siam: Essays in Art and Archaeology (2014).



Glossary Terms

  • Mandala

    sk मण्डल mandala "circle", "center"

    Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit term primarily referring to what is circular thus whole, complete. 

    1/ In the Arthaśāstra and other legal texts, the mandala is circle of twelve neighbouring kings, some friendly and others unfriendly, in relation to a king desirous of conquest. The term could also be used for the territory under the possession of a feudatory.

    2/In Shaivism, maṇḍala, cakra, and yantra are often translated as a “mystical diagram” figuring the space for rituals and the apparition of deities. Mandala can also be a disc, the lunar disc.

    3/ In ancient Indian epics, it is the deployment of an army in a circular shape. The term also refers to a part of the Rig-Veda, a combination of dance sequences in the Natyashastra [Treaty on Dance], and in some texts (Kulakaulinimata, for instance) to "round" meaning "breasts".

    4/ The Buddhist mandala is a circular picture, sometimes a symbol of the universe, a place of enlightnment or the symbolization of a meritous deed, to be contemplated in meditation or prayer.

    5/ The term has been used by some modern historians of Southeast Asia to describe pre-State polities or areas of influences, "circles of allegiance".

  • stupa, chedi

    sk स्तूप, stupa, "heap" | pa thupa | kh ចេតិយ chedi, cha-dey | th เจดีย์ cedyi, "stupa", "mausoleum".

    A Buddhist mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics, originally from the Buddha or from Buddhist monks or nuns, in modern times the remains of distinguished departed people, where one can come to meditate. 

    Thought to be derived from the ancient ritual of building tumuli, the stupa was designed to allow circumambulation [pradakhshina] around the structure, as seen until these days at Shewanagon Pagoda (Myanmar), the Abayagiri Dageba (Sri Lanka) or Borobodur Temple (Indonesia).

    In Cambodia, royal stupas in pagodas (Oudong, Wat Ounalom, Wat Phnom...) and at the Royal Palace (Kantha Boppha chedi, King Suramarit...) have a distinctive style, different from Thai cedyis. In Khmer, the word originally meant "sign" [of a sacred place], and went to refer only to a structure containing relics.

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