Rock carving depicting Buddha images

Keywords : Tham Ruesi Khao Ngu, Buddha image with dropping leg, Rock engraving,

Site common name	Bhodisavara Cave
Type of artwork	Sculpture
Sub district	Thap Kwang
District	Kaeng Khoi
Province	Saraburi
Region	Central
Country	Thailand
Geographic Coordinates Decimal degree	Lat : 14.576248 Long : 101.145822
Geographic Coordinates UTM	Zone : 47 P Hemisphere : N E : 731118.09 N : 1612529.91
Place of artwork	At the mouth of the cave

History of production	The construction history remains unclear. However, the art characteristics suggest that it might have been built in Dvaravati period.
Production process	Rock Carving
Art	This bas-relief carving depicts the Lord Buddha as the principle positioned at the far left of the group. The Lord Buddha is seated with dropping legs on a throne. The hands depict the attitude of giving the first sermon. On the right, there is a picture of person with one head and two arms. He is seated in a Lalitasana posture. It is believed that the person is Shiva as his left hands holds rosary. Next to this, there is another person, which can be Vishnu as he has four arms. The regular arms are crossed at his chest showing respect to the Lord Buddha. The other two arms hold discus and couch shell. On the right, there are pictures of 2 flying gods and one hermit.
Key academic information	This carving depcts the Lord Buddha giving a sermon to people believed to be Shiva and Vishnu. It is therefore assumed that there might have been a conflict or a competition between Buddhism and Bhramanism in Dvaravati period. This picture might convey that Buddhism is superior to Bhramanism or the Lord Buddha is of higher status than Bhraman gods. However, the other interpretation might be that Buddhisim and Bhramanism could co-exist in the period. Besides, this carving also shows the culture of adjusting natural cave into Buddhist place, something very common in Dvaravati.
Period	Historical Period
Art period	Dvaravati
Age	12th -16th centuries BE.
Religion	Buddhism
Religion and belief	Buddhism
Related artwork	At Reusri Kahongu Cave, there is a carving of Buddha images with dropping legs as well.

Type of License	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
Rights	Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Date of record creation	2016-08-19
Record creator	Rungroj Thamrungraeng
Bibliography	ผาสุข อินทราวุธ, ทวารวดี การศึกษาเชิงวิเคราะห์จากหลักฐานทางโบราณคดี. กรุงเทพฯ : อักษรสมัย, 2542. ศักดิ์ชัย สายสิงห์, ศิลปะทวารวดี วัฒนธรรมพุทธศาสนายุคแรกเริ่มในดินแดนไทย. กรุงเทพฯ : เมืองโบราณ, 2547.