Bai Sema
With Bai Sema ( Thai ใบเสมา ) the "landmarks" are used for labeling the sacred area in a Thai Buddhist temples ( Wat ) , respectively.
The Buddha stipulated in the Vinayapitaka that the area of the Buddhasima (the area in which monks perform their Sanghakamma , i.e. sacred ceremonies) must be at least large enough to accommodate 21 monks who are at a distance of one forearm length sit apart. However, the area must not be larger than three Yojana ( Yojana is an old Indian measure of length, 1 Yojana = about 16 km) - this is probably the circumference. In other words, it shouldn't be too small or too big.
The Buddha has also determined that a Buddhasima can also be marked with the following nimitta (boundary markers): hills, rocks, forests, trees, anthills, paths, rivers and bodies of water such as lakes or ponds. However, the type of nimitta most commonly found in Thailand is stone. The oldest stone Bai Sema from the Dvaravati period (around 6th to 9th centuries AD) were found in northeast Thailand (see Isan ).
For a new ubosot , holes must first be dug. Namely at the eight cardinal points and a ninth point at the place that is intended for the main Buddha statue. The so-called Lug Nimit (which are roughly the size and shape of a cannonball) are sunk into these holes during a religious ceremony . The Bai Sema will then be built over the Lug Nimit . The Thai name Bai Sema means about "Sema sheets" because the shape of the flat Sema landmarks often in the shape of leaves of the Bodhi tree remember (Figure 1), under which the Buddha the enlightenment has learned.
The individual parts of the shape of the Bai Sema, which resembles a leaf - not only because the stones are flat - are named after body parts in Thailand. There is the "neck", the "shoulders", the "chest", the "hips" and the "stomach". During the Ayutthaya period there were even stones with “eyes” (Fig. 4). Some Bai Sema from the Ayutthaya period up to the Rattanakosin period also have a “prince's crown” (“phra kieo”).
Bai Sema from the Dvaravati period (around 6th to 9th century AD), consist mainly of “shoulders”, boundary stones from the U Thong period are elegantly decorated with ornaments on the “neck” and “belly”. Early Ayutthaya boundary stones have a simple "chest" and are otherwise quite sparse. Bai Sema from the Middle Ayutthaya period are "tightly laced" in the "hip" and have a "breast plate". In the late Ayutthaya period "eyes" were developed (picture 4), ultimately they were even "crowned" (picture 2), which continued into the Rattanakosin period. Under King Mongkut (Rama IV.) Was Thammayut Medal founded; the Thammayut monks developed a three-dimensional (four-sided), rather cube-shaped stone from the flat leaf shape (Fig. 3).
gallery
"Crowned" Bai Sema, Wat Ratchanatdaram , Bangkok
four-sided Bai Sema, Wat Mahanaparam, Bangkok
Bai Sema with "eyes", Wat Phra Kaeo , Bangkok
literature
- No Na Paknam: The Buddhist Boundary Markers of Thailand . Muang Boran Press, Bangkok 1981, OCLC 51383974 .
- No Na Paknam: Sima Gattha, Samut Khoi Wat Suthat Thepwararam ("Manuscript of Sima of Wat Suthat Dhepvararam"). Muang Boran Press, Bangkok 1997, ISBN 974-7367-82-3
