Phra Pathom Chedi

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Phra Pathom Chedi

The Phra Pathom Chedi ( Thai : พระ ปฐม เจดีย ) is the tallest Buddhist Chedi in the world at 127 m . The chedi is in the city of Nakhon Pathom in Thailand .

history

The name Phra Pathom Chedi means Sacred Chedi of the Beginning . The first written records of this chedi date back to 675 , but archaeological excavations indicate that a first chedi was built as early as the 4th century .

After the land was conquered by the Khmer , the chedi was covered with a prang , which was later covered by the jungle . The ruin was rediscovered in the 19th century when the future King Mongkut (Rama IV) roamed the forests of Nakhon Pathom during his time as a wandering monk. After his coronation, he ordered a new and particularly important Buddhist site to be built here. After 17 years of construction, the building was completed in 1870 under his successor King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) . Chulalongkorn later had the building covered with fine Chinese bricks. The population from nearby Nakhon Chai Si was settled in the newly built city around the chedi.

The Thai Ministry of Culture has Pathom Chedi Phra as a future World Heritage Site of UNESCO proposed.

Attractions

  • Phra Ruang Rojanaridhi - King Vajiravudh (Rama VI.) Found fragments of a large Buddha statue in Si Satchanalai in 1909, when he was still crown prince , of which only the head, hands and feet were intact. Prince Naris was commissioned to restore the statue. It was cast at Wat Pho in Bangkok in 1913 . On November 2, 1915, the statue in the northern chapel ( Wihan Thit) was inaugurated. King Vajiravudh gave her the name Phra Ruang Rojanaridhi Sri Indarathita Dharmobas Maha Vajiravudha Rajapujaniya Borpitra . The king's remains were later interred in the base of the statue. Today Phra Ruang Rojanaridhi stands in the hand position Abhaya Mudra (promise of protection) visible from afar at the top of the large northern flight of stairs.
  • Phra Phuttha Narachet - the seated Buddha statue "made of white stone" in the Dvaravati style is located on the stairs to the southern entrance. She is 3.76 m high from head to toe, sits in the European style with the hand position of instruction (Vitarka Mudra). Another statue that looks the same is located in Wat Na Phra Men in today's Ayutthaya Historical Park , while a third is in the Bangkok National Museum .
  • A model of the original chedi, with a bell-shaped base similar to the Sanchi stupa and a Khmer prang , now stands next to the southern entrance to the chedi.
  • Outside the Phra Rabieng , the circular gallery that surrounds the chedi, small niches are attached at regular intervals. Inside there are 40 Buddha statues, which were made according to a list of the abbot of Wat Pho Prince Paramanuchit Chinorot . The list includes Buddha images in the 40 standard poses of Thai iconography.

  • The inner courtyard around the chedi

  • Model of the original chedi

  • Phra Pathom Chedi around 1925

  • Phra Phuttha Narachet, Dvaravati style

  • Phra Ruang Rojanaridhi

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Locals fight Heritage push for Phra Pathom Chedi Culture in Development, August 2, 2011.

Coordinates: 13 ° 49 ′ 11 ″  N , 100 ° 3 ′ 37 ″  E