Phutthamonthon

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Buddha statue by Prof. Bhirasri

Phutthamonthon ( Thai : พุทธ มณฑล , also written Buddha Monthon) is a "Buddhist park" in the province of Nakhon Pathom in the west of Bangkok , the capital of Thailand .

history

Putthamonthon Park was created in 1957 , the year 2500 according to the Thai era , which begins with the birth of the Buddha. The idea for the park came from the then Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram . It should be called Buddha Monthon, which means "Buddha Mandala". The foundation stone for the park was laid by King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand on July 29, 1955, so that after a short construction period the Visakha Puja Day 1957 could already be celebrated here in a dignified environment.

Park

The park has a size of about 400 hectares, in Thai units that is exactly 2500 Rai (for comparison: Central Park in New York is only 337 hectares). The undisputed center of the park is the large, striding Buddha statue right in the middle. It is about 16 meters high. (There are contradicting statements about its size, the Thai tourism authority TAT even says it is more than 40 meters high.) It was designed by the art professor Silpa Bhirasri and cast in 1981. SM King Bhumibol has given her the name "Phra Si Sakaya Dasabalayan Prathan Phutthamonthon Sudassana".

In addition to a huge conference building and a “Buddhist Museum”, the park also has several meditation halls that are wonderfully embedded in the Veluvana, a bamboo grove with over 100 different types of bamboo in the northwest of the park.

There are also artistic representations of four stations from the life of Buddha distributed over the entire area:

  • the “birth station”: seven lotus-shaped stones symbolize the first seven steps of the newborn Bodhisattva .
  • the “enlightenment station”: this is where the Bodhipanlanka stands, the seat on which the Buddha experienced his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree .
  • the “first sermon station”: the teaching of the Buddha is symbolized here by the Great Wheel of Teaching , the group of five ascetics (Pancavaggi), his first audience, by five seats.
  • the “Parinibbana Station”: this is where the day on which the Buddha entered Nibbana is remembered .

Another important building is the marble Wihan . In this building - surrounded on three sides by a lake - the entire Pali canon is engraved on 1418 marble steles in golden Thai letters. Modern wall paintings on huge panels on the ceiling of the viharn depict the life of the Buddha and the ten Jataka (“birth stories”).

  • the "first sermon station"

  • Marble wihan

  • Bhikkhu in front of the marble stelae

  • Wall painting of the marble Wihan

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Veluvana - Explanation of terms from palikanon.com (in German)

Web links

Coordinates: 13 ° 47 '  N , 100 ° 19'  E