Arts in Southeast Asia
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PaintingMural Paintings Depicting Ramayana
The mural paintings show a combination of traditional and modern painting techniques as follows: the traditional painting techniques are demonstrated through the main characters’ dresses are similar to those in the Masked dance drama, they are showing the same dance movements, and the characters’ adornments are gilded. The modern painting techniques include the use of horizon lines and perspective, imitation of real buildings such as palaces in the Grand Palace, and depiction of real landscapes. In addition, the paintings also show ways of life of people in the Thai Royal Court and ordinary Thai people and humor through the supporting characters. There are 178 painting panels in total; and each painting comes with verse of Ramayana poetry on the lower part of the panels, 224 verses in total.
SculptureAvalokitesvara Bodhisattva
The sculpture is in the damaged condition. Only the head and upper body in ‘Tribhanga’ posture (standing body position or stance used in the traditional Indian sculpture, art and Indian classical dance forms) are left. The lower part of body is lost.The face is plump and well-crafted. The eyelids are half closed. The Unalome is visible at the forehead while head wears the triangle crown with jewelries. The hair bun on the top of the head is broken and lost, only the hair that is down to the shoulders left. The body wears many accessories such as the leather body bracelet with the chamois head on the left shoulder. This body bracelet is overlapped by a pearl body bracelet. Two necklaces, the top one is of pearls and the lower one is jewelries with flowers decorated. The jewels bracelet is also visible. Overall, this sculpture reflects the relationship between the Network of Mahayana Buddhist Kingdoms such as Pala Dynasty of India and Shailendra Dynasty of Java. However, the study by Assoc Prof Chet Tingsanchali points out the traits of the sculpture that do not exist in Java Art which means this sculpture might be crafted in Thailand.
ArchitecturePhra Sri Rattanachedi
Phra Sri Rattanachedi is a bell-shaped stupa in circular plan. Its four niches which have doors leading to the inner chamber, where the relics are kept in the small golden stupa, have smaller bell-shaped stupa on the top. The stupa is on a set of pyramidal lotus-shaped pedestals with wires in round plan. Its Ballang is in square plan, surrounded by supporting pillars.
ArchitectureChedi Phukhao Thong
Chedi Phukhao Thong is a monumental architecture. It comprises a pyramidal ambulatory platform with a staircase projecting from the middle of all four sides and a 12-angle indented (recessed) body. The upper part of the chedi, which now tilted slightly, is composed of Buddha niches on four sides, triple rings moulding, anindented bell-shaped dome and a spire.
ArchitecturePhra Ubosot Wat Phra Sri Rattanasatsadaram
Phra Ubosot Wat Phra Sri Rattanasatsadaram is a traditional Thai brick-and-stucco architecture in rectangular plan with boundary and faces the east.The three-tiered wooden roof is decorated by blue roof tiles, with orange and yellow roof tiles at the edge line. The cornice is decorated with Chorfah, Bairaka, Naksadung and Hanghong. The floral-carved-wooden pediment is coated with gold lacquer and glass, whose centre displays Vishnu riding Garuda.The exterior wall is decorated with gold-lacquer-and-glass Phoom Khao Bindh pattern, while there are Garuda holding Naga sculptures around the pedestal. Three doorways can be found both in the front and the back, with three pairs of bronze lion figures at the front staircase. There are pillars in dodecagonal plan surrounding the ubosot in the veranda area. Its echinus is a lotus shape and brackets are supporting the eaves.
ArchitecturePrasat Phra Thep Bidorn
Prasat Phra Thep Bidorn is a four-portico building with Prang top. The front projecting portico is in the east. The wall is decorated by tiles in Phoom Khao Bindh pattern on blue background. The cornice is decorated with Chorfah, Bairaka, Naksadung and Hanghong. A prang is on the top of the building, which is made from plaster and decorated with coloured tiles. Its four pediments display the royal coats of arms. The northern portico’s pediment displays Unalom of King Rama I. The southern portico’s pediment displays Garuda holding Nagas of King Rama II. The western portico’s pediment displays Phra Viman of King Rama III and the eastern portico’s pediment displays Phra Makamongkut of King Rama IV. The windows and doorways has Mongkut tops which are coated with gold lacquer and glass, while the sided walls show the royal coats of arms of King Rama I – V.
SculptureYakṣas at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha
The 12 sculptures are made of stucco with colorful glazed porcelain adornments according to Rammakian including different types of crowns, blouses, costumes, pointed sandals, etc. Their bodies were also painted according to the literary work.6 pairs of Yakṣas are as follows: 1.Suriyaphop – Intharachit 2.Mangkonkan – Wirunhok 3.Thotsakhichanthon – Thotsakhiriwan 4.Chakrawat – Atsakanmarasun 5.Thotsakan - Sahatsadecha Maiyarap - Wirunchambang
ArchitecturePhra Ubosot Wat Benchamabophit Dusitwanaram
Phra ubosot is in projecting cross plan and faces the east The easterm portico is extended, while the duplicated Phra Phuttha Jinaraj is installed in the western wing. The northern and southern porticos are linked to the cloister that leads to the back of the building.The front edge of the boundary stand concrete pillars with lotus-bud-shaped echinus, which signify “Sema”, while the back of the ubosot shows through Dharmacakra Sema on a granite-carved floor tiles. The boundary floor uses pink and gray granite tiles, while the wall is a white marble.The eastern and western porticos have four marble pillars in circular plan. Beside the staircase of each side stand a pair of marble-carved lions, which Prince Naris designed and molded by Khun Sakolpradit, the royal artisan.The exterior door was embossed with Dvarapala, while the interior door was painted the same figure with golden lacquer. The windows use the same technic, however, with Mara Baek. The niches were decorated by stained glass.The roof was built in traditional Thai form with yellow corrugated tiles and Thepphanom at the eaves, which once were the roof tiles of Wat Kalayanamite that later had been coloured in China. The pediment of phra ubosot displays the important state coat of arms. The eastern portico’s pediment displays Vishnu riding Garuda which stands for Phra Krooth Pah emblem. The western portico’s pediment display Unalom in Bussabok which stands for Maha Unalom or Maha Ongkarn emblem. The northern portico’s pediment displays three-headed elephant carrying bussabok which stands for Aiyarapot emblem. The southern portico’s pediment displays Cakra which stands for Cakraroth or Dharmacakra emblem.
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Minaret of Masjid Kampong Kling
The Southeast Asian-styled mosques are different from Indian or Persian masjids. The mosque has a square plan with 4 pillars supporting the sloping roof with the wooden beam supporting the tile roof without any dome. Other interesting point is the minaret that has stacked body with the Chinese sloping roof at the top. The shape of the minaret is similar to Chinese pagoda. At the same time, the minaret is also look alike the Dargarh type tower in Nagapattinam in South India
Dutch Colonization Period
17th – 18th century
Architecture
ArchitectureMain Tower: Prasat Takeo
This is one of the five towers of Prasat Takeo. It is the first time that the whole temple is made of stone and the doors at the cardinal points are the enterable ones. The connected surrounding gallery is also introduced in the first time here. However, the temple is lack of decoration as the temple is left unfinished.
ArchitectureGallery: Prasat Takeo
The surrounding connected gallery is the innovation for Khmer art, firstly introduced at Prasat Takeo. The architect cleverly connected the separated elongate halls at Prasat Pre Rup and designed the new innovation of architecture, the gallery, The four cardinal points of the gallery are punctuated by the gateways. This is also the first attempt of Khmer architects to tile the roof with bricks. This is the first attempt to tile the heavy materials to the roof. The gallery at Takeo is still on the lowest platform whereas, for the later developed one, the gallery would be on the top platform.
ArchitecturePrasat Pimeanakas
Prasat Pimeanakas is the stepped pyramidal temple with 3 high platforms. However, the gallery is located on the top of the uppermost platform. This indicates the architectural evolution of Khmer architecture.
ArchitectureAngkor Wat
The temple complex is surrounded by the one-kilometer moat. In the front there is the causeway leading to the main temple. The main temple rests on the triple stepped platforms, each of them is enclosed by the connected gallery. The galleries are punctuated with the gateway in the middle and the tower at the corners. The complex on the top of the platform comprises five towers. This temple is the culmination of the architectural accomplishment as the architects have combined the previous successes of two previous temples, Takeo and Baphoun. While the five set of towers on the top of the platform is the accomplishment of Takeo, the triple galleries are the accomplishment of Baphoun.
ArchitecturePrasat Banteay Samre
There is no inscription mentioning the name of the patrons. Architecturally, this temple is datable to Angkor Wat period as the temple is wholly constructed of stone. The sanctum is enterable through the four-sided doors which is the normal character during the late Angkor Wat period. The superstructure of the main tower is decorated with the antefixes while the body of the tower is in redent plan. The front hall, or Maṇḍapa, is the character of the temple which emphasizing the axis. This temple is similar to Prasat Phimai in Thailand which is datable to the same period.
ArchitecturePrasat Bayon
Bayon is considered to be the last stepped-platform temple. It was dedicated to the Buddha of Mahayana concept, simultaneous incarnation as the king himself. The faces on towers are iconographically problematic. Some believe that the faces reflect the face of the king himself. The multiplicity of towers makes Bayon to be more complicate than Angkor Wat. However, the non-symmetrical plan of Bayon is considered by scholars to be the starting point of the decline of Cambodian art. The central tower is planned as the circular temple with several sanctums. This is possible to coincide with the Mandala or the diagram in Mahayana Buddhism.
ArchitectureMain Tower: Prasat Bayon
Bayon, the temple constructed by Jayavarman VII, is the last stepped-pyramid temple in Angkorian tradition. This temple was dedicated to the supreme Buddha in Mahayana Buddhism. The towers of the temple are decorated with faces which are still iconographically problematic. Some scholars presume that the face is of Jayavarman himself while other do not belief in this theory. The multiplication of the towers increases the complexity of Prasat Bayon beyond the temple of Angkor Wat. Some scholars consider, however, that the temple of Bayon indicates the architectural declining period because the symmetrical idea has been forgotten by the architects who constructed the temple of Bayon.The central tower of Bayon is interestingly in circular shape with multi-chambered lkyaout, reminiscent of “Maṇḍala” or the diagram in Mahayana Buddhism.
ArchitectureTower with Faces: Prasat Bayon
Bayon, the temple constructed by Jayavarman VII, is the last stepped-pyramid temple in Angkorian tradition. This temple was dedicated to the supreme Buddha in Mahayana Buddhism. The human faces decorating the towers in every direction are iconograplically interesting. Some scholars presume that the face is identifiable as the face of the king himself, while other assumptions connect the faces with either Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara or Brahma Sanatkumar. The face is characterized by the typical smiling called “Bayon smile”.
