Wat Phra That Phanom () is a Buddhist temple in the That Phanom District in the south of Nakhon Phanom Province, all within the Isan region of Thailand near the Lao border. According to local legend, the temple contains in the pagoda the Phra Uranghathat (พระอุรังคธาตุ)/Phra Ura (พระอุระ)/Buddha's breast bones. As such, it is one of the most important structures for Theravada Buddhists and the most important Buddhist site in the province, with an annual week-long festival being held in the town of That Phanom to honour the temple. The festival attracts thousands of people who make pilgrimages to the shrine. In Thai folk Buddhism, Wat Phra That Phanom is a popular pilgrimage destination for those born in the year of the Monkey.
The temple contains a number of paintings illustrating traditional Thai proverbs.
History
The That Phanom Chronicle documented that the Phra That Phanom stupa was first constructed 8 years after the Buddha's passing by the five kings of the Mon kingdom, known as Sri Gotupura. However, archaeological findings suggest that the earliest structure found dates back to the 7th or 8th century CE. Stephen A. Murphy places the temple at the northern end of a group of sema boundary-stone sites running about 65 kilometres south along the Mekong to Pha That Phon in Laos. The stones of this group carry axial stupa and stupa-kumbha motifs and no narrative carving, and he reads the tradition as having reached the area from the lower Chi River system, this being its most easterly extent.
According to local legend, the Buddha told Mahakasyapa, one of his principal disciples, that once he died, Mahakasyapa was to bring his breast bones to 'Phu Kampra to allow Buddhism to continue on. Then in 525 B.C, Mahakasyapa then decided on constructing a temple on Phu Kampra. Joined by 500 Arhats and 5 Phrayas, they built the Phra That Phanom stupa primarily from clay and once completed, the Buddha's breastbones were brought over from India and placed inside.
The pagoda is believed to have been built before the 1100s with its original Khmer design. However years of being part Lao kingdoms led to several renovations which created the current pagoda in a Lao style. In 1690, the pagoda was restored and raised to about 47 meters, and then by a further 10 meters in 1940.
In 1935, the complex was registered as an ancient monument for preservation by the Fine Arts Department of Thailand.
In March 1975, an earthquake caused cracks to appear. On 11 August 1975 at 7:38 p.m, the entire pagoda collapsed due to several days of heavy rain. Sarah Talbot reports that the collapse revealed an inner core of a ninth-century Khmer Hindu shrine, turned into a Buddhist monument in the early thirteenth century. It was rebuilt with funds raised by public subscription and from the Royal Thai Government, which was completed on 23 March 1979. Then king Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit along with other royal members visited the site when the Buddha's relics were re-installed. During the rebuilding, archaeologists of the Fine Arts Department recovered unglazed grey stoneware jars with flat lids containing relics, images, precious metal caskets, jewellery and gemstones, which Leedom Lefferts and Louise Allison Cort report as having been deposited at the restoration of 1690 to 1692; these are displayed in the Art and Culture Centre in the temple compound. Many valuables were placed inside during its rebuilding and a 110-kilogram gold spire was added on top of the pagoda. Buddhists from Laos also participated, placing many valuable items from Vientiane within, such as Lan Xang style golden seven-tiered umbrella. To help protect the temple,
around 4 hectares around the front part were included into the register to further help preserve the site. This is called the 'Buddha Area'.
Architecture The 53-meters tall square pagoda was originally made in a Khmer style when it was first created before the 12th century. However renovations when it was under Lao control led to it having its current Lao pagoda design. The stupa's unique architectural style combines Dvaravati, Khmer, and Cham art. The architectural style of the temple inspired other temple designs in the area.
The Cham element has been described in more detail, and on a dating later than the seventh or eighth century. Varis Domethong reports the earliest building phase as a square plan on a low base. Its corner pilasters are cut by a deep central groove, its ornament is carved into the brick, and its arch is shaped like a large curved leaf. Two superimposed storeys survive. Some scholars have compared this with the Hoa Lai style of Champa, others with the Dong Duong style. He argues for Dong Duong, and so for a date early in the tenth century rather than the ninth, on the transfer of the Cham capital to Indrapura at Dong Duong in 875. The brick was polished and bonded with dầu rái resin in the Cham manner, and Tran Ky Phuong dates brick as Champa's principal building material from the late eighth century. Reliefs of an elephant rider and a horseman on the outer wall match carvings on the two Dong Duong pedestals, which Nandana Chutiwongs reads as the assault of Māra. Domethong takes the parallel to favour a Buddhist reading of the wall carvings against the Brahmanical one that has also been proposed.
See also Phra Pathom Chedi Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon Phra That Kham Kaen Wat Pa Thama Uthayan Wat Thung Setthi Wat Photharam, Maha Sarakham Phra That Choeng Chum
References
External links
THAT PHANOM PLACES OF PEACE AND POWER: That Phanom, Thailand