The Phra Phuttha Sihing () is a highly revered image of the

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, second in importance only after the

Emerald Buddha The Emerald Buddha ( , or , ) is an image of the meditating Gautama Buddha seated in a Meditation attitude, meditative posture, made of a semi-precious green stone (jasper rather than emerald or jade), clothed in gold, and about tall. The imag ...

. The image is currently housed at the Phutthaisawan Hall (formerly a part of the

Front Palace Krom Phra Ratchawang Bowon Sathan Mongkhon , colloquially known as the Front Palace (, ), was the title of the ''uparaja'' of Siam, variously translated as "viceroy", "vice king" or "Lord/Prince of the Front Palace", as the titleholder resided ...

), now the

Bangkok National Museum The Bangkok National Museum (, ') is the main branch museum of the National Museum (Thailand), National Museums in Thailand and also one of the largest museums in Southeast Asia. It features exhibits of Thai art and History of Thailand, history ...

. The image was brought to Bangkok from

Wat Phra Singh Wat Phra Singh (full name: Wat Phra Singh Woramahaviharn; ; ; is a Buddhist temple (Thai language: Wat) in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), bestowed upon it the status of List of Buddhist temples in Thailand#R ...

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, second largest city in Thailan ...

in 1795 by

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

Maha Sura Singhanat, the brother of King

Rama I Phutthayotfa Chulalok (born Thongduang; 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), also known by his regnal name Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (now Thailand) and the first King of Siam from the reigning Chakri dynasty. He asc ...

History

The provenance of the Phra Phuttha Sihing image is still in question. The name ''Sihing'' comes from '' Sinhala'' the name of several kingdoms in Sri Lanka. According to legend the Phra Phuttha Sihing image was created in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

around 157 A.D. and was brought to Thailand in 1307 to Sukhothai. Later it was relocated to

Phitsanulok Phitsanulok (, ) is a city municipality in northern Thailand and the capital of Phitsanulok province. It had a city population of 60,827 and an urban population of approximately 200,000 in 2024, making it Thailand's 19th-most populous city p ...

Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locall ...

in 1378, Kamphaeng Phet in 1382 and

Chiang Rai Chiang Rai (, ; , ) is the northernmost major city in Thailand, with a population of about 200,000 people. It is located in Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai Province. Chiang Rai was established as a capital city in the reign of King Ma ...

in 1388, before it was brought back to Ayutthaya again and then back to Chiang Mai in 1407, where it was enshrined at

. When King

Narai King Narai the Great (, , ) or Ramathibodi III ( ) was the 27th monarch of Ayutthaya Kingdom, the 4th and last monarch of the Prasat Thong dynasty. He was the king of Ayutthaya Kingdom from 1656 to 1688 and arguably the most famous king of the ...

conquered Chiang Mai in 1662, he brought the Buddha image back to Ayutthaya, where it was enshrined for 105 years at

Wat Phra Si Sanphet Wat Phra Si Sanphet (; "Temple of the Holy, Splendid Omniscient") was the holiest temple on the site of the old Royal Palace in Thailand's ancient capital of Ayutthaya Kingdom, Ayutthaya until the city was completely destroyed by the Burmese in 1 ...

until the Fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, following which, the people of Chiang Mai brought the Buddha Sihing image back to Chiang Mai. In 1795, the image was taken from Chiang Mai by King

and his brother the Viceroy Maha Sura Singhanat to Bangkok, as

war booty Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

. At first, the image was enshrined at the

of the

; after his death in 1803, the image was moved to the

Wat Phra Kaew Wat Phra Kaew (, , ), commonly known in English as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and officially as Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram, is regarded as the most sacred Wat, Buddhist temple in Thailand. The complex consists of a number of buildings ...

in the

Grand Palace The Grand Palace (, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. . ) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the officia ...

by Rama I. It remained there until 1851, when King

Mongkut Mongkut (18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth Monarchy of Thailand, king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IV. He reigned from 1851 until his death in 1868. The reign of Mongkut was marked by significant modernization ini ...

raised his younger brother Prince Chutamani to the unprecedented rank of Second King

Pinklao Pinklao (; 4 September 1808 – 7 January 1866) was the viceroy of Siam. He was the younger brother of Mongkut, King Rama IV, who crowned him as a monarch with equal honor to himself. Early life Prince Chutamani was born on 4 September 1808, as ...

. In order to celebrate the newly elevated status of Pinklao, King Mongkut gave the Second King the Phra Phuttha Sihing image. Considered the second most important Buddha image after the

. The image was then taken back to the Front Palace (now the palace of Pinklao), where it was housed in the Phutthaisawan Hall, where it remains today. Apart from the aforementioned image in Bangkok, at least two other images in Thailand are identified with the Phra Phutta Sihing. One at Hor Phrabhut Sihing,

Nakhon Si Thammarat Nakhon Si Thammarat (, ; from ) is a city municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') located in Mueang Nakhon Si Thammarat, the capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. Nakhon Si Thammarat Province is situated in the South of Thailand. It is about s ...

and the other at

, Chiang Mai.

Description

The image is of the Buddha seated in the meditative posture (''vajrāsana'' or meditation attitude), a stance commonly associated with Buddhist art found in Sri Lanka. This image was made of cast

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and

gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

with

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. The image was sculpted in classic

Lan Na The Lan Na kingdom or the Kingdom of Lanna (, , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; , , ), also known as Lannathai, was an Indianized state centered in present-day Northern Thailand from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The cultural developmen ...

and Sukhothai style, but using Singhalese iconography. The images's facial features and long fingers are indicative of classic Lan Na style. The Sukhothai characteristics seems to manifest in the image's full cheeks and hooked nose. Along with these classical features, the image shows features that is suggestive of its northern origins. The removable

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

on top of the head, the small spiky hair curls, the raised area above the upper lip, dimpling at the corner of the mouth and the style of the shawl began to appear in Lan Na images around 1480s - 1500s. The proof of the image's northern manufacture is in the

Lotus throne The lotus throne, sometimes called lotus platform, is a stylized lotus flower used as the seat or base for a figure in art associated with Indian religions. It is the normal pedestal for divine figures in Buddhist art and Hindu art, and often see ...

, the pedestal with its lotus petal decorations, the filament making vertical striations and the anther or head creating a beaded rim to the plinth. These are features found only in Lan Na art. The

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

flame finial on the top of the head is unusual, since most bronze images will have a bronze finial. In Lan Na however the finials are cast separately and is removable, whereas in Sukhothai the whole image is always cast whole. The crystal material used for the image's flame finial is indicative of the special status of the image.

Gallery

พระราชวังบวรสถานมงคล เขตพระนคร กรุงเทพมหานคร (2).JPG, The Phutthaisawan Throne Hall (formerly a part of the

), now the

. พระราชวังบวรสถานมงคล เขตพระนคร กรุงเทพมหานคร (24).jpg, The interior of the Phutthaisawan Throne Hall with the Phra Phuttha Sihing in the central place of worship. พระราชวังบวรสถานมงคล เขตพระนคร กรุงเทพมหานคร (18).jpg, The Phra Phuttha Sihing in Bangkok Interior Viharn Lai Kam Phra Singh Temple 2 2010.jpg, The Phra Phuttha Sihing or Phra Singh () at

. Phra Phuttha Sihing, Nakhon Si Thammarat (หอพระสิหิงค์).jpg, The Phra Phuttha Sihing at Hor Phrabhut Sihing at

. Phra Phuttha Sihing in Wat Ratchapradit.jpg, A replica of the Bangkok Phra Phuttha Sihing, used as the principal Buddha image of Wat Ratchapradit.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Front Palace 15th-century sculptures Buddha statues in Thailand Bronze Buddha statues Northern Thai culture Collection of the Bangkok National Museum

History

Description

Gallery

See also

References