Monks holding alms bowls

Keywords : Buddha image, Terra-cotta Sculptures, Buddhist Monks, U-thong City

Site common name	U-thong National Museum
Type of artwork	Sculpture
Sub district	U Thong
District	U Thong
Province	Suphan Buri
Region	Central
Country	Thailand
Geographic Coordinates Decimal degree	Lat : 14.373126 Long : 99.891406
Geographic Coordinates UTM	Zone : 47 P Hemisphere : N E : 596139.84 N : 1589166.81
Place of artwork	In the exhibition hall

History of production	The exact age of this sculpture is unknown, but the thick monastic robes with a wave of folds are comparable with those of Buddha Images in Amaravati style. Some scholars are thus convinced that they have some connection and date the sculpture to the 10^th Buddhist century when Amaravati art still significantly affected its counterparts. However, the hypothesis that the monastic robes of the sculpture associate with Amaravati art and that the sculpture is dated to the 9^th-10^th Buddhist century which is older than other Buddhist art objects, including the stupa to which this terra cotta attached, found in U-thong should be carefully considered. As this sculpture depicts Buddhist monks, to compare it with Buddha Images requires careful consideration. The sculpture might not date from the 9^th-10^th century.
Art	This terra-cotta bas-relief used to decorate a stupa, but it is in badly damaged condition. The sculpture illustrates 3 Buddhist monks standing in a row, and each monk is wearing a monastic robe the shawl of which is covering their shoulders and arms and is holding an alms bowl at navel height.
Key academic information	The terra-cotta sculpture depicts 3 monks holding alms bowls. The monks are wearing monastic robes the shawl of which is covering their shoulders and arms with a natural wave of folds. The robe’s artistic style is similar to that of Amaravati Art of India which is dated to the 6^th-10^th Buddhist century. Some scholars hence believe that this sculpture is one of the most ancient Buddhist art objects found in Thailand.
Notice	Discovered at Khao Phra in a suburb of U-thong City, U-thong District, Suphanburi Province.
Period	Historical Period
Art period	Dvaravati
Age	9th-10th Buddhist century
Religion	Buddhism
Religion and belief	Buddhism

Type of License	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
Rights	Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Date of record creation	2015-08-19
Record creator	Rungroj Thamrungraeng
Bibliography	ผาสุข อินทราวุธ, ทวารวดี การศึกษาเชิงวิเคราะห์จากหลักฐานทางโบราณคดี. กรุงเทพฯ : อักษรสมัย, 2542. พิริยะ ไกรฤกษ์, ประวัติศาสตร์ศิลปะในประเทศไทยฉบับคู่มือนักศึกษา. กรุงเทพฯ : อมรินทร์การพิมพ์, 2528. ศักดิ์ชัย สายสิงห์, ศิลปะทวารวดี วัฒนธรรมพุทธศาสนายุคแรกเริ่มในดินแดนไทย. กรุงเทพฯ : เมืองโบราณ, 2547. พนมบุตร จันทรโชติ และคณะ, นำชมพิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งชาติอู่ทอง และเรื่องราวสุวรรณภูมิ. กรุงเทพฯ : กรมศิลปากร, 2550.