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Golden Buddha (statue)
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Golden Buddha (statue)
The Golden Buddha (Thai: หลวงพ่อทองคำ, RTGS: Luang Pho Thongkham), officially titled Phra Phuttha Maha Suwanna Patimakon (Thai: พระพุทธมหาสุวรรณปฏิมากร; Sanskrit: Buddhamahāsuvarṇapaṭimākara), commonly known in Thai as Phra Sukhothai Traimit (Thai: พระสุโขทัยไตรมิตร), is a gold Maravijaya Attitude seated Buddharupa statue, with a weight of 5.5 tonnes (12,125 lb). It is located in the temple of Wat Traimit, Bangkok, Thailand. At one point in its history, the statue was covered with a layer of stucco and coloured glass to conceal its true value, and it remained in this condition for almost 200 years, ending up as what was then a pagoda of minor significance. During relocation of the statue in 1955, the plaster was chipped off and the beautiful shining gold revealed. Guinness World Records recognizes the image as both the world's largest solid gold sculpture and, by intrinsic gold value, the most valuable object of religion.
The origins of the statue are uncertain. It is crafted in the Sukhothai style of the 13th–14th centuries, although it may have been made somewhat later. The head of the statue is egg-shaped, a typical characteristic of Sukhothai art in its most refined and fully developed phase. Given that Sukhothai sculpture was influenced by Indian aesthetics, and that metal images of the Buddha from India were widely exported during the Pala period, it is possible that this statue reflects that influence.
Later, the statue was probably moved from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya, about 1403.
Some scholars believe the statue is mentioned in the somewhat controversial Ram Khamhaeng stele. In lines 23–27 of the first stone slab of the stele, "a gold Buddha image" is mentioned as being located "in the middle of Sukhothai City", interpreted as being a reference to the Wat Traimit Golden Buddha.
At some point, the statue was completely plastered over to prevent it from being stolen. The statue was covered with a thick layer of stucco, which was painted and inlaid with bits of coloured glass. It is believed that this plastering-over took place before the destruction of Ayutthaya kingdom by Burmese invaders in 1767. The statue remained among the ruins of Ayutthaya without attracting much attention.
During the reign of King Rama III (1824–1851), the statue — still entirely covered in stucco — was installed as the principal Buddha image in the main hall of Wat Chotanaram (also known as Wat Phraya Krai) in Bangkok. This image, together with other large Buddha images of similar style, is believed to have been brought from the northern centers of Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai to Bangkok in the early Rattanakosin period, at a time when thousands of Buddha images were being relocated to the capital and installed in its monasteries. Some of these images were formally granted by the kings to be enshrined in temples founded or restored by members of the royal family and the nobility. It is therefore plausible that Phraya Krai Kosha, a senior official in close service to King Rama III, received royal permission to acquire and install the two large Buddha images as the principal icons of worship in Wat Chotanaram, the temple he founded.
When Wat Chotanaram, located near Chinatown on the site of modern-day Asiatique, fell into disrepair and was closed, the statue was moved to its present location at the nearby Wat Traimit in 1935. At the time, Wat Traimit was a pagoda of minor significance (like hundreds of other Buddhist temples that exist in Bangkok). Since the temple didn't have a building big enough to house the statue, it was kept for 20 years under a simple tin roof. The true identity of this statue had been forgotten for almost 200 years.
In 1954, a new Viharn building was built at the temple to house the statue. It was moved to its new location on 25 May 1955; there are a variety of accounts of what exactly happened next, but it is clear that during the final attempt to lift the statue from its pedestal, the ropes broke and the statue fell hard on the ground. At that moment, some of the plaster coating chipped off, allowing the gold surface underneath to be seen. Work was immediately stopped so that an evaluation could be made on the statue.
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Golden Buddha (statue)
The Golden Buddha (Thai: หลวงพ่อทองคำ, RTGS: Luang Pho Thongkham), officially titled Phra Phuttha Maha Suwanna Patimakon (Thai: พระพุทธมหาสุวรรณปฏิมากร; Sanskrit: Buddhamahāsuvarṇapaṭimākara), commonly known in Thai as Phra Sukhothai Traimit (Thai: พระสุโขทัยไตรมิตร), is a gold Maravijaya Attitude seated Buddharupa statue, with a weight of 5.5 tonnes (12,125 lb). It is located in the temple of Wat Traimit, Bangkok, Thailand. At one point in its history, the statue was covered with a layer of stucco and coloured glass to conceal its true value, and it remained in this condition for almost 200 years, ending up as what was then a pagoda of minor significance. During relocation of the statue in 1955, the plaster was chipped off and the beautiful shining gold revealed. Guinness World Records recognizes the image as both the world's largest solid gold sculpture and, by intrinsic gold value, the most valuable object of religion.
The origins of the statue are uncertain. It is crafted in the Sukhothai style of the 13th–14th centuries, although it may have been made somewhat later. The head of the statue is egg-shaped, a typical characteristic of Sukhothai art in its most refined and fully developed phase. Given that Sukhothai sculpture was influenced by Indian aesthetics, and that metal images of the Buddha from India were widely exported during the Pala period, it is possible that this statue reflects that influence.
Later, the statue was probably moved from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya, about 1403.
Some scholars believe the statue is mentioned in the somewhat controversial Ram Khamhaeng stele. In lines 23–27 of the first stone slab of the stele, "a gold Buddha image" is mentioned as being located "in the middle of Sukhothai City", interpreted as being a reference to the Wat Traimit Golden Buddha.
At some point, the statue was completely plastered over to prevent it from being stolen. The statue was covered with a thick layer of stucco, which was painted and inlaid with bits of coloured glass. It is believed that this plastering-over took place before the destruction of Ayutthaya kingdom by Burmese invaders in 1767. The statue remained among the ruins of Ayutthaya without attracting much attention.
During the reign of King Rama III (1824–1851), the statue — still entirely covered in stucco — was installed as the principal Buddha image in the main hall of Wat Chotanaram (also known as Wat Phraya Krai) in Bangkok. This image, together with other large Buddha images of similar style, is believed to have been brought from the northern centers of Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai to Bangkok in the early Rattanakosin period, at a time when thousands of Buddha images were being relocated to the capital and installed in its monasteries. Some of these images were formally granted by the kings to be enshrined in temples founded or restored by members of the royal family and the nobility. It is therefore plausible that Phraya Krai Kosha, a senior official in close service to King Rama III, received royal permission to acquire and install the two large Buddha images as the principal icons of worship in Wat Chotanaram, the temple he founded.
When Wat Chotanaram, located near Chinatown on the site of modern-day Asiatique, fell into disrepair and was closed, the statue was moved to its present location at the nearby Wat Traimit in 1935. At the time, Wat Traimit was a pagoda of minor significance (like hundreds of other Buddhist temples that exist in Bangkok). Since the temple didn't have a building big enough to house the statue, it was kept for 20 years under a simple tin roof. The true identity of this statue had been forgotten for almost 200 years.
In 1954, a new Viharn building was built at the temple to house the statue. It was moved to its new location on 25 May 1955; there are a variety of accounts of what exactly happened next, but it is clear that during the final attempt to lift the statue from its pedestal, the ropes broke and the statue fell hard on the ground. At that moment, some of the plaster coating chipped off, allowing the gold surface underneath to be seen. Work was immediately stopped so that an evaluation could be made on the statue.
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