Wat Pho is the second of the three monuments that the first Chakri kings established in Bangkok’s center to reaffirm traditional Thai ways of perceiving after Bangkok was founded in 1782. Rama I ordered its construction, and in the early 19th century, Rama III spread time-honored Thai knowledge by instituting it as a key center of education in religion, astrology, traditional medicine, and literature. People who went there found a wealth of old Thai art forms as examples of what harmonizes the world.
A sleeping Buddha that is 150 feet long and 50 feet high resides in one of Wat Pho’s halls. This is one of the most popular Buddha postures in Thailand. The soles of the statue’s feet contain a treasured art form in Thailand. Legend says that the Buddha traveled to Sri Lanka and left his footprint on Adam’s Peak to show that the island is important for spreading his teachings. Ancient Indians fashioned the Buddha’s footprint, which often symbolized him before they began to depict his images about 2,000 years ago. Thais later added their own aesthetics to this art form. The footprints in Wat Pho are full of mother-of-pearl inlay, which shines silver, rose, and light green hues against a black background. The designs include gossamer images of trees, plants, birds, Mt. Meru, Indra’s palace, and intricate temples.
Standard images in Wat Pho’s Buddha’s footprint are the 108 auspicious signs, the wheel of dharma (you can see it in the center of the above photo) and Mt. Meru with a palace on top (in the heel). But look how Thais used mother of pearl inlay to make all this symbolism both shimmering and dainty.
Many divinities surround the wheel of dharma. The ones above are frontal and stately, like meditating Buddha’s.
But these are more animated. Like a lot of Thai art, heaven is both stately and fun.
And it gets even more fun. These half bird-half human figures are called kinnari. They’re celestial musicians and lovers and among the 108 auspicious signs.
These images translate Indian ideas of a vast cosmos into the most elegant lines and soft shimmers imaginable.
The animal kingdom is also elegant in the Buddha’s footprint at Wat Pho. Beasts are as luminous as the celestial beings.
This applies to real critters, and-
-imaginary ones.
It also applies to the natural environment.
In Wat Pho’s Buddha’s footprint, stones glitter as though they’re alive.
And vegetation shines so much that it seems as permanent as the stones.
And the stones of Mt Meru are as radiant as the palace they support. Mt Meru in Indian mythology is larger than many other cultures’ ideas of the whole universe. But Thais made it pretty and elegant.
Even mundane scenes, like the ones above, radiate grace.
Thais circulated stories about the Buddha wandering through their land, leaving his footprint in different places, and they produced it in wats where they thought he had taught. These artworks thereby unify the country in a geography of benevolence. Wat Pho’s reinforced this idea as Thais built their new capital.