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Architecture
As Professor Silpa Bhirasri pointed out, the Thai were the direct
successors of the Khmer culture
in Southeast Asia and one could expect Thai architecture to follow
the Khmer style. But the purpose of the religious buildings erected
by the Thai was different from that of the Khmer.
In Buddhism, second to the symbolic Stupa,
the most important structure is the Chaiya
Hall, in Thai called Bot
or Ubosot. Here the monks
meditate, study the Doctrine, ordain novices and perform all other
ceremonies. The Bot must be spacious because it has to accommodate
a congregation of one or two hundred
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Structurally,
a wide span cannot be roofed with the Khmer vaulting system. The
Khmer temples were formed by narrow corridors
and by relatively small square
cells; the former were vaulted
with horizontal layers of stones while the sanctuary was covered
with a tower-like structure originating from the Sikhara of the
northern Indian temples: here, too, horizontal layers of stones
were used.
In contrast, it was quite natural for the Thai to roof their larger
halls with timber.
And the halls had to be large because after Hinayana Buddhism
had become the official religion of the kingdom of Sukhothai (1257
A.D.) Thai men retired in droves into monastic
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This meant that not only a large number of monasteries
needed to be built but also that each one needed to accommodate
a large number of monks. As timber
was easier to get than bricks
or cut stone, the Thai shifted from the Khmer
structures entirely built of stone to mixed
structures for which wood was increasingly used.
Difference of materials engenders a difference of architectural
style. This was the very cause from which the Thai
style emerged. It was not due to any reaction against the Khmer
art; in fact, for the sake of tradition
the Thai retained many architectural features of the Khmer even
when they were no longer constructive.
Among the materials used by the Thai in their religious structures,
aside from cut stone and bricks, were wood, glass mosaics, gold
leaf, porcelain, stucco, lacquer and mother-of-pearl.
Wood was not only used as
a general material for building and the roofing of brick buildings
but also extensively for ornamental
and decorative parts. Wooden
parts were then generally gilded
and enriched with glass mosaics.
Glass mosaics in dark red,
green, blue and violet were used to decorate gables, pillars
and all other wooden and stucco ornaments.
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Gold
leaf was
used to gild ornaments made either of wood or stucco, architectural
moldings and lacquer designs. Porcelain
or glazed terra-cotta ornaments were used to decorate
old temples. Later, especially in the Bangkok period, small different
colored pieces of porcelain, often from broken vessels, were used
to form ornamental patterns to enrich the surface of all kinds
of brick structures. Stucco
was extensively used to enrich architectural molding, to model
ornaments of window and door frames and to decorate gables when
this decoration was not made in wood.
Lacquer was commonly used
for the designs of window and door panels. The designs were often
gilded while the background was left in black lacquer.
Mother-of-pearl was inlaid
to decorate window and door panels.
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Wat
The term Wat refers to a group of religious buildings generally
enclosed by a wall with several
gateways. According to artistic importance, the principal religious
buildings in Thailand are: the Phra Chedi, the Bot, the Vihara,
the Phra Prang, the Mondop and the Prasat. The other structures
architecturally not very important are: the Kuti, Ho Trai, Sala
Kan Parien, ordinary Salas and the Ho Rakhang.
A Wat may contain just some
of these structures or all of them.
The most essential is the Bot, also called Ubosot. In general,
with the exception of the Bot or of the Vihara, whose plan is
conceived as a single unity within its enclosing gallery, the
rest of the monuments are added little
by little without special consideration of the general
planning. But because of the contrasting forms
of the large Bot or Vihara and the slender pinnacle of the Stupas
or the solid vertical mass of the Phra Prangs, the resulting effect
is always harmonious.
Bot
The Bot (also called Ubosot) corresponds to the Indian
Chaiya Hall, and like this it may have one large nave
or one nave and the lateral aisles. Its classic type has a rectangular
plan and at its end it enshrines a large
gilded sitting Buddha image modeled either in stucco
or cast in bronze. The image is placed on a high
pedestal whose rich ornamentation
contrasts sharply with the plain modeling
of the image and seems to symbolize the restlessness
of the earthly life in comparison with the serenity of the Enlightened
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Because of the limited
light the interior receives and also because in general
the walls are decorated with paintings having a
rather dark tone, the large image often seems to shine
- an effect apt to add mysticism to the holy interiors.
The shape of the Bot may have originated from the thatched Indonesian-Thai
house. Of course, the roof of the Bot has in time become
more complex than the roof of a common house because of lateral
additions and the superimposed
roofs. The lateral additions are meant to widen the
interior. Thereby (as usually is the case) a feature dictated
by functional necessity had become a characteristic of a style.
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The roofs of the front and rear porches
which are not as high as those of the main structure add movement
and beauty to the mass and outline of the building. In central
Thailand, at the end of each ridge of the roof of
the Bot there is that graceful finial called Chofa.
It may be a reminiscence of a horn of some animistic
protective mask as those seen in the houses of Indonesian
clubs used for animistic ceremonies, or it may be a reminiscence
of the Makara motif made
in glazed terra-cotta used for the same purpose in Sukhothai
art.
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The gables
are enriched with wooden carved ornaments which are gilded and
often have a glass mosaic
as background. The triangular wooden framing of these gables,
as well as those of the other superimposed roofs, are decorated
with the universal design of the Naga
(mystical serpent) as it was in the Khmer temples.
In old Ayutthaya architecture,
the Bot had, instead of panelled windows, narrow vertical openings
rather high up in the side walls - a reminiscence of the fine
windows of the Khmer temples. At a later period series
of windows with wooden panels were added laterally
at the height of about one meter from the level of the inner floor.
The Bot (or Ubosot) may have one, two or three doors,
both in front and at the back of the building. Outside, the doors
and windows are decorated with ornamental
frames in stucco, gilded and enriched with glass mosaics.
The panels of the windows
and those of the doors are decorated outside with gilded lacquer
ornaments while, in general, the interiors have mythical figures
of guardians painted in vivid colors. Some Bots instead of lacquer
decoration have ornaments in inlaid mother-of-pearl.
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Some Bots such as
that of Wat Na Phramane in
Ayutthaya (ca. 16th century A.D.) have between the two lateral
doors a large and high niche containing a standing
Buddha image. Both front and rear facades have the
same niche.
In old Thai architecture, the pillars
of the interior and exterior of the Bots are octagonal. The interior
ones are generally enriched with painted ornaments. The capitals
of these columns have a lotus form.
If the inner columns were in wood, then their natural circular
form was respected; the shaft was often painted in red and enriched
with gilded ornaments.
Like the old Christian Basilicas, old Thai structures had no ceilings.
The wooden ceilings added
later are painted in red and enriched with gilded studs.
The mass of the building is in brick, plastered and whitewashed.
The large sloping roofs are covered with glazed
tiles which in general have dark orange, green or violet
color and contrast with the plainness of the main white mass.
This white mass is relieved at its lower part by the series of
the gilded window frames.
Wat - Khae Hindu Temple, this
temple is the most Hindu Temple in thailand located on Silom Road,the
decorete in Hindu style. And the most Colour-Full - Decorated
by Stucco and Merble as well.
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