5/5 Er. Vinay D. 7 months ago on Google
The
Golden
Buddha,
officially
titled
Phra
Phuttha
Maha
Suwanna
Patimakon
(Thai:
พระพุทธมหาสุวรรณปฏิมากร;
Sanskrit:
Buddhamahāsuvarṇapaṭimākara),
commonly
known
in
Thai
as
Phra
Sukhothai
Traimit
(Thai:
พระสุโขทัยไตรมิตร),
is
a
gold
Maravijaya
Attitude
seated
Buddharupa
statue,
with
a
weight
of
5.5
tonnes
(5,500
kilograms).
It
is
located
in
the
temple
of
Wat
Traimit,
Bangkok,
Thailand.
At
one
point
in
its
history,
the
statue
was
covered
with
a
layer
of
stucco
and
coloured
glass
to
conceal
its
true
value,
and
it
remained
in
this
condition
for
almost
200
years,
ending
up
as
what
was
then
a
pagoda
of
minor
significance.
During
relocation
of
the
statue
in
1955,
the
plaster
was
chipped
off
and
the
gold
revealed.
The
origins
of
this
statue
are
uncertain.
It
is
made
in
the
Sukhothai
Dynasty
style
of
the
13th–14th
centuries,
though
it
could
have
been
made
after
that
time.
The
head
of
the
statue
is
egg-shaped,
which
indicates
its
origin
in
the
Sukhothai
period.
Given
that
Sukothai
art
had
Indian
influences
and
metal
figures
of
the
Buddha
made
in
India
used
to
be
taken
to
various
countries
mostly
during
the
Pala
period.
Later,
the
statue
was
probably
moved
from
Sukhothai
to
Ayutthaya,
about
1403.
Some
scholars
believe
the
statue
is
mentioned
in
the
somewhat
controversial
Ram
Khamhaeng
stele.
In
lines
23–27
of
the
first
stone
slab
of
the
stele,
"a
gold
Buddha
image"
is
mentioned
as
being
located
"in
the
middle
of
Sukhothai
City,"
interpreted
as
being
a
reference
to
the
Wat
Traimit
Golden
Buddha.
At
some
point,
the
statue
was
completely
plastered
over
to
prevent
it
from
being
stolen.
The
statue
was
covered
with
a
thick
layer
of
stucco,
which
was
painted
and
inlaid
with
bits
of
coloured
glass.
It
is
believed
that
this
plastering-over
took
place
before
the
destruction
of
Ayutthaya
kingdom
by
Burmese
invaders
in
1767.
The
statue
remained
among
the
ruins
of
Ayutthaya
without
attracting
much
attention.
In
1801,
King
Buddha
Yodfa
Chulaloke
(Rama
I)
of
Siam,
after
establishing
Bangkok
as
a
new
capital
city
of
the
Kingdom,
and
after
commissioning
the
construction
of
many
temples
in
Bangkok,
ordered
that
various
old
Buddha
images
should
be
brought
to
Bangkok
from
the
ruined
temples
around
the
country.
At
the
time
of
King
Rama
III
(1824–1851),
the
statue,
still
covered
with
stucco,
was
installed
as
the
principal
Buddha
image
in
the
main
temple
building
of
Wat
Chotanaram
(Wat
Phraya
Krai)
in
Bangkok.
When
Wat
Chotanaram,
located
near
Chinatown
on
the
site
of
modern-day
Asiatique,
fell
into
disrepair
and
was
closed,
the
statue
was
moved
to
its
present
location
at
the
nearby
Wat
Traimit
in
1935.
At
the
time,
Wat
Traimit
was
a
pagoda
of
minor
significance
(like
hundreds
of
other
Buddhist
temples
that
exist
in
Bangkok).
Since
the
temple
didn't
have
a
building
big
enough
to
house
the
statue,
it
was
kept
for
20
years
under
a
simple
tin
roof.
The
true
identity
of
this
statue
had
been
forgotten
for
almost
200
years.
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