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Buddhaisawan Chaple

jingyuan qin
April 25, 2024

Introduce

The Buddhaisawan Chapel was built in 1795 at the start of the Rattanakosin era, and today stands in the grounds of the National Museum, Bangkok. The building and grounds were originally part of the Front Palace of the uparāja, or deputy King of Siam. The central image is Phra Buddha Sihing, one of the most sacred Buddha images in the country.

History of Buddhaisawan Chaple

The chapel was constructed by Vice-King Boworn Maha Surasinghanat for housing the Phra Buddhasihing in 1795. After his death, the Buddha was moved to Wat Phrasrirattana Sasadaram while the building served as the throne hall. The renovation was performed during the reign of King Rama Ill resulted in its contemporary architectural style. Later, Phra Buddhasihing had returned during the King Rama I period. Inside this chapel located the mural painted during the reign of King Rama I depicted scenes of Buddha’s life.

Phra Buddha Sihing

The Prince Successor of King Rama I brought the image from Chiang Mai in 1787 to house in the Sutthasawan Hall (today Buddhaisawan Chapel) of the Palace to the Front (today National Museum Bangkok)

The image is of the Buddha in meditation, sitting on a lotus pedestal. It was made of bronze and thickly gilded. The face is rather round with a knobbed chin. The eyebrows are curved, the eyes downcast, and the nose is ridged. The hair curls are small, the ushnisha is high with a frame – like finial, and the robe is worn in the open mode, with the robe flap covering the left shoulder.
This is one of the most beautiful and important images in Thailand. Every Songkran (Thai New Year), the image is taken to Sanam Luang to enable people to pay respect to the image.

Phra Narai

At the front of the temple stands the statue of Phra Narai (Viṣṇu), which was cast by Alfonso Tornarelli, an Italian sculptor, at the behest of King Rāma V (Chulalonghorn).

Life of the Buddha Murals

The paintings which depict the life of Buddha are divided into thirty two scenes between the doors and windows. The story starts to the right of the central door on the wall behind the altar with the marriage of the Bodhisattva’s parents, Prince Suddhodana and Princess Māyā, and ends to the left of the same door with the scene of the funeral and the dividing up of the relics.

Before Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha, he was born into a royal family in the ancient city of Kapilavastu, located in present-day Nepal. His father was King Suddhodana, and his mother was Queen Maya. Queen Maya had a dream in which a white elephant descended from heaven and entered her womb, symbolizing the conception of a special child. This child was believed to be destined for greatness. Queen Maya gave birth to Siddhartha in the Lumbini Grove, and shortly after his birth, she passed away. Siddhartha was raised in luxury and shielded from the harsh realities of the world by his father, who hoped he would become a great king. However, Siddhartha’s encounters with suffering and the inevitability of aging, sickness, and death led him to renounce his princely life in search of spiritual enlightenment. This decision eventually led him to become the Buddha, the enlightened one, after years of meditation and self-discovery.

The entire building records Siddhartha Gautama’s process of enlightenment, his connection with Buddhism, the suffering and setbacks he experienced, and his influence on people. It is basically divided into five important steps.

Renunciation: Siddhartha renounced his life as a prince, leaving behind his palace, wife, and newborn son , in search of truth and liberation from suffering.

Asceticism: Siddhartha joined a group of ascetics and practiced extreme austerity for several years, hoping to attain enlightenment through severe self-mortification. However, he eventually realized that extreme asceticism did not lead to spiritual realization.

Enlightenment: Siddhartha sat under a Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, and entered deep meditation. After a profound spiritual experience, he attained enlightenment and became the Buddha, or the Awakened One. He gained deep insight into the nature of suffering, its causes, and the path to liberation from suffering, which he summarized in the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

Teaching: After his enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching others about his discoveries and guiding them on the path to awakening. He traveled throughout India, delivering sermons and establishing a community of monks, nuns, and lay followers known as the Sangha.

Parinirvana: The Buddha passed into parinirvana, or final nirvana, at the age of 80. He died peacefully in Kushinagar, India, leaving behind a legacy of wisdom and compassion that continues to inspire millions of people around the world.

Buddhist Manuscript Cabinets

Prince Maha Sakdeepse, the third governor, ordered the construction of this set of three cabinets to house the Tripitaka (Buddhist canon) and to be used as hall dividers for the chapel. The walls and doors of these cabinets are painted with continuous Rama-style murals.