- Author:
- Wright, Arnold
- Publication Info:
-
London:
Lloyd's Greater Britain Pub. Co.,
1908,
pg 211
Text on page 211
64 TWENTIETH CENTIJRV IMPRESSIONS OF SIAM
211
the Dhamma-sala, in which the priests assemble and propound the doctrine to their followers. The Vihara is the place to which the priests may retire. In it are found the statues of the Buddha, and sometimes the one from which the temple takes its name. It may be used when there is a large concourse of people in the same way as the Dhamma-sala. To the cloisters, with which the temples are surrounded, the priests retire for meditation, and in them, in many cases, the images of Buddha are kept. In the temple grounds we find the buildings designated in European writings, variously, as pagodas and dagobasai.e., cetiya, shrines where relics of the Buddha are kept, or which are erected to his memory, or to the memory of a deceased person. The tapering form is the Chedi, whilst the obtuse form is called the Phra Prang, both, of course, having their origin in the Stupa (skr stupa), the bell-shaped shrine.
The images found in temples all present a phase of the life of the Buddha or of the Bodhisat. Of the images kept in temples the pradhana is the presiding one, from which the temple often takes its name. They cannot be considered as objects of worship to which the followers of Buddha pray for the attainment of a wish, but these images are placed in temples and private houses with a view of keeping the followers of the Buddha mindful of the merits of the " Blessed one," " the Holy one," " the fully enlightened one," and thus gladdening and delighting their hearts.
The images found remain the property of the community, and when Wat Pho at Bangkok was restored in the reign of Phra Buddha Yot Fa after the destruction of Ayuthia, the images found in the abandoned temples of the old capitals were placed in the halls of the temple, where they are kept at the present day. Moreover, the old criminal law of Siam visited with severe punishment every profanation or theft committed in the temple grounds.
The temples erected in modern times by royal and noble families and by the people are built with a view that they should form a memorial of their family, a place where their ashes may be buried, where their memory will be kept, and where, in providing for the priests, they also provide for the spiritual welfare of the people.
Famous, of course, is the Wat Phra Keo, which contains the Emerald Buddha, and which may be considered the temple of the present dynasty, for, commenced in the first reign, all succeeding kings have contributed to its embellishment. Famous also, as showing the purest style of Siamese architecture, free from all tawdriness, is the temple Pancarna Pavite, erected by the present king.
The dedication of temples, the erection of Chetis, the casting of statues of the Buddha and putting them in their appointed places, have formed since olden times occasions for festivities and rejoicings. It is only by a formal dedication that the ground, the buildings, and all found in the temple grounds are consecrated to the priesthood. We find, in the history of Siam, frequent allusions to such dedications, and the tradition is kept up at the present day. In such dedication festivals great numbers of people assemble to take part in or to witness the processions, the fireworks, and the theatricals which form a necessary complement thereto. Frequently such dedications are recorded in inscriptions, which, however, are seldom properly dated.
The annual visitation of the king to the temples to distribute cloths and garments to the priests (the Kathin ceremony) at the end of the rainy season (October-November) is one which has been maintained since olden times. It is known that in primitive Buddhism the members of the community had to seek their clothing themselves ; it is, therefore, a meritorious act to provide them with such. In
books written on Siam by the early travellers frequent reference is made to this ceremony, from which it would appear that it was the only one in which the king showed himself to the people. These annual visitations now take place by water and land, and the king is followed by the princes and nobles. In the most important cases the king is carried by men on a litter, dressed in full royal robes, and by water the state barges are used. In the pictures of the old capital the king is seen visiting the temples by land on an elephant. In visiting the temple the king bestows on the priestly community white cloth from which to make the dresses, whilst to the high priests and to others he wants particularly to honour he gives individually the ready-made cloth for a priest. As it is the desire of the king to bestow such gifts on as many temples as possible, he deputes princes and nobles to perform the ceremony in his name and with his gifts.
It is considered part of the education of a Siamese to spend some time in the priesthood after he has reached his twenty-first year. The ceremony of the initiation takes place by the
Kammavaca, an ecclesiastical vote, and the candidate has to answer the questions as laid down in the Vinaya. There is no restriction placed on a priest as to the length of his stay in the priest-
hood, but whilst in it he has strictly to conform to ali rules laid down. The priests were formerly exclusively in charge of primary education ; the children were given over to the priests to be taught, and it is thus that few alphabets exist in Siam. The boy may become a nen (Samanera) after the age of seven years, and he is from that time onward supposed to follow some of the rules laid down for the priesthood, such as refraining from eating after mid-dav until daybreak, and c. Of course, new laws are laid down for the education of youth, but still it is only with the help of the priests that the new development could have taken place, and this is one of their great claims to gratitude, which is fully acknowledged. Some of the priests also are physicians of the people. Siamese medical lore, which is based on that of ancient India, is studied in the priesthood, and as the priests are called in to attend the numerous domestic ceremonies, such as at marriage, at hair-cutting, at death, and during illness, they naturally become the spiritual guides of the people. Naturally, therefore, the priesthood is held in high esteem, and the
people are willing to supply them with all their needs.
We have already stated that the form of Buddhism as practised in Siam is that of early
BUDDHIST PRIESTS.BUDDHIST PRIESTS.
