Vasundharā or Dharaṇī is a chthonic goddess from Buddhist mythology of Theravada in Southeast Asia. Similar earth deities include Pṛthivī, Kṣiti, and Dharaṇī, Vasudhara bodhisattva in Vajrayana and Bhoomi devi and Prithvi in hinduism.

Etymology She is known by various names throughout Southeast Asia. In Khmer, she is known by her title Neang Konghing (, lit. "lady princess"), or as Preah Thoroni () or Preah Mae Thoroni (; "Mother Earth Goddess"). In Burmese, she is known as Wathondare (ဝသုန္ဓရေ) or Wathondara (ဝသုန္ဓရာ) (from ) and variously transliterated as Wathundari, Wathundaye, Vasundari, etc. In Thai and other Tai languages, she is known as Thorani (from ) in various appellations, including Nang Thorani (), Mae Thorani (), and Phra Mae Thorani ().

Iconography and symbology

Images of Preah Thorani are common in shrines and Buddhist temples of Burma, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos. According to Buddhist myths, Phra Mae Thorani is personified as a young woman wringing the cool waters of detachment out of her hair to drown Mara, the demon sent to tempt Gautama Buddha as he meditated under the Bodhi Tree. ML Pattaratorn Chirapravati observes that the wringing gesture has no Indian precedent. In Indian art the earth goddess appears at small scale at the base of a Buddha image. She holds a water vessel or carries it on her head, as on Pāla and Sena reliefs of the 8th to 12th centuries in northeast India. The earliest known images of her wringing her hair appear in Cambodia in about the twelfth century.

In Buddhism, most predominantly in the Pali Canon (but stretches throughout all schools and sects), Vasundhara (in the Pali Language) is categorized as a "Bhummatthika Devata" meaning "Earth Dwelling Deva". and in a modern sense, like other non-heavenly Devas, she is categorized as a Bhuta, a general Buddhist term for a coarse, primal, or non-heavenly Deva.

In temple murals, Phra Mae Thorani is often depicted with the Buddha in the mudra known as calling the earth to witness. The waters flowing forth from her long hair wash away the armies of Mara and symbolize the water of the bodhisattva's perfection of generosity (dāna paramī).

Calling the earth to witness

In the iconography of Gautama Buddha in Laos and Thailand, "touching the earth" mudra (Maravijaya Attitude) refers to the Buddha's pointing towards the earth to summon the Earth Goddess to come to his assistance in obtaining enlightenment by witnessing to his past good deeds.

In Thailand The earliest surviving Thai representation identified by Pattaratorn is a wooden relief panel at Wat Phra Rup in Suphanburi, 227 by 75 centimetres, which she assigns to the 15th century. The textual basis for the Thai treatment is the Paṭhamasambodhi, in Thai Pathomsomphot. George Cœdès held that it was recompiled because Pali texts had become difficult to find after the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767. Prince Paramanuchit Chinorot composed descriptions of forty postures of the Buddha, of which six were made as images.

A freestanding image of the goddess was made for a public drinking-water shrine in Bangkok at the wish of Queen Saovabha Phongsri, who gave funds for a source of clean water as an act of merit on her fiftieth birthday. Pattaratorn records that Vajiravudh proposed showing the goddess wringing water from her hair, and that the design was made by Prince Narit. The shrine cost 16,437 baht and opened on 27 December 1917. She describes it as among the oldest freestanding images of the type in Thailand and as the model for many later ones in central, northern and northeastern Thailand. The water pipes were stolen during the Second World War, and water no longer flowed from the figure's hair for many years afterwards.

Buddhist water libation

In Buddhism in Burma, the water ceremony (yay zet cha), which involves the ceremonial pouring of water from a glass into a vase, drop by drop, concludes most Buddhist ceremonies including donation celebrations and feasts. This ceremonial libation is done to share the accrued merit with all other living beings in all 31 planes of existence. While the water is poured, a confession of faith, called the hsu taung imaya dhammanu, is recited and led by the monks. Then, the merit is distributed by the donors, called ahmya wei, by saying Ahmya ahmya ahmya yu daw mu gya ba gon law three times, with the audience responding thadu, Pali for "well done." The earth goddess, known in Burmese as Wathondara () or Wathondare (), is invoked to witness these meritorious deeds. Afterward, the libated water is poured on soil outside, to return the water to the goddess.

Modern use as a symbol ML Pattaratorn Chirapravati holds that Phra Mae Thorani's role in Thai Buddhism has changed over the past hundred years. She is now venerated not only as the goddess who defeated Māra, but for good fortune, and as a symbol of fertility, peace and happiness, with a belief that she can wash away sickness. Freestanding images of her now stand outside temple halls as well as within them, among them an early 21st-century bronze about 60 centimetres high at Wat Pichaiyat in Thonburi.

Phra Mae Thorani is featured in the logo of: The Metropolitan Waterworks Authority and Provincial Waterworks Authority of Thailand. The Metropolitan Waterworks Authority was founded in 1967, and its emblem shows her seated with her legs folded to her left, wringing water from her hair within ripples of water. The Democrat Party (Thailand) to emphasise the importance of earth and water for Thailand, together with the Pali proverb sachamwe amatta wacha () "truth is indeed the undying word," to symbolise the values of the Party. Peter Skilling identifies the line as saccaṁ ve amatā vācā, from the Subhāsitasutta of the Suttanipāta.

Gallery

See also Maravijaya attitude Mother goddess Houtu Vasudhara Phosop Bhūmi

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Mae Phra Thorani Monument Maï Thorani, Déesse de la Terre