Murals at Wat Rakhang Khositaram

Cover story : 25 Mar 05
Vol. 21 No. 24

Murals
at Wat Rakhang Khositaram
The Highly Treasured Paintings

By Dararai / Photos by Inchan

There are a lot of temples both in Bangkok and in other provinces, where fine murals are sheltered. Since many of them dated back to the Ayutthaya Period (1350-1767 A.D.), they are regarded as national treasures and are well preserved. In Bangkok, among those deserving praises are the murals of the pavilion housing Buddhist Scriptures at Wat Rakhang Khositaram.

The exterior of Ho Trai

Wat Rakhang's History
Wat Rakhang is a second rank royal temple in the vara-mahavihara class. It is situated on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River in Bangkoknoi District not far from Siriraj Hospital. The temple was built in the Ayutthaya Period and was initially called "Wat Bang Wa Yai". The monastery used to be a centre of Buddhist activities and arts. In the vicinity, there stands a pavilion (Ho Trai in Thai) where Buddhist Scriptures are kept. The pavilion's old name was "Phra Tamnak Chan" at the time when the then Phra Ratcha Warin (later King Rama I) was in residence. It was renovated in the reign of King Rama I (1782-1809 AD).

During this renovation, a bell (rakhang in Thai) with an impressive resonant chime was unearthed. This explained how the temple received its present name.

The Exterior & Interior of the Pavilion (Ho Trai)
Built in the Ayutthaya art style on wooden stilts, the Ho Trai is divided into three sections; a retiring room, the central room and a reading room (study). The construction is roofed with uncoated tiles. The decorations are delicately appointed. The outer front door and its arch are magnificently carved.

The exceptional beauty of
the door leaves of Ho Trai

After entering the front door, you will find yourself standing inside the central room. The unit on the right side is the reading room; the unit on the left is the retiring room. Murals in Ho Trai which were painted in the reign of King Rama I by Phra Achan Nak, a master artist who was a monk, possess a great value in aesthetics as described below.

A detail from the scene of Makha Manop building a pavilion. Suchada is seen standing on the left-hand side of the painting.

Retiring Room
The murals on the north wall adjacent to the east door depict the previous life of Indra when he was a young man named "Makha Manop" who planned to build a pavilion, a bok khorani (lotus) pond and a flower garden for the public's benefits. Makha Manop had four wives, viz. Suthamma, Suchittra, Sunantha and Suchada.

The first three were all kind-hearted and participated in Makha Manop's pavilion construction. Only Suchada thought that divine power of the meritorious deeds that her husband did would be beneficial to her as well. Consequently, she spent time in dressing up and keeping herself entertained.

The power of this merit sent the young man to be incarnated as Indra, the chief of Tavatimsa Heaven (the second class of heaven in Buddhist beliefs). All three wives, except Suchada were reborn as his queens.
The poor Suchada, without any power of merit, was born inferiorly in three lives: as a heron, a daughter of a potter and a daughter of a titan, consecutively. Throughout these periods, Indra encouraged and helped her to do good deeds so that she would be able to reside in heaven with him in her next life.

The mural in the retiring room describing
Trai Phum or the Three Worlds.

The walls in the east, west and south
They show a scene of the war between Mara (devils) and Deva (angels). Each line and colour, though quite faded now, still faintly convey the fierce feeling of all soldiers. The harmonious use of hues and shadows are shown in all weapons, costumes, ornaments and vehicles.

The wall adjacent to the door in the west
It has murals that depict Himmaphan Forest¹ and Traiphum or the Three Worlds. They portray the location of Mount Phra Sumen where the Tavatimsa Heaven is situated, its surrounding mounts, the Si Thandon Sea², and details of the Himmaphan Forest.

The Central Room Inside this room, Phra Achan Nak painted the Kumphakan episode and the Intarachit War episode from the Ramakian (a Thai version of the Ramayana Epic). The Kumphakan scene, above the door frame, shows Sukhrip painstakingly struggling to pull up a sal tree by the roots.

Top

The Kumphakan episode portraying
Kumphakan fighting Sukhrip

The Reading Room This room has Thep Chumnum paintings in one row.Thep Chumnum or a group of angels is a scene popularly painted on the wall above a temple's windows. The group of angels are mostly painted in three or four rows with the alternating background colours of red and violet (or brown).

In each row, angels are painted in the gesture of Thai-style greeting with hands joined together at the chest and between them there is a pagoda or a talipot. Painted in the lowest row are, as normally, low rank angels, demons and garudas. A very beautiful Thep Chumnum can also be found at Suwannaram Temple in Bangkok.

One of the angels in the
Thep Chumnum painting

Distinctive Characteristics of Murals in Ho Trai
1. The paints used to create these murals were tempera mixed with latex. Tempera was prepared by natural substances. However, these substances did not yield many shades nor did they bear the brightness that can be seen in works of art created in the Ayutthaya period. In the reign of Rama I, Siam was in the recovery stage after the war, so imported paints from China or India or other countries were hard to come by.
2. They show a harmony between two artisan schools; Ayutthaya and Thon Buri, not only in the originality but also the inspiration. Technically, the murals in Ho Trai Wat Rakhang were the prototype of paintings in Rama I's reign, which copied the authentic art style of the late Ayutthaya Period. At that time there were no strict rules in choosing stories to be depicted and in planning the composition. As a result, these murals reveal artists' imagination.

Hanuman, the monkey general
and a foot-soldier monkey

3. Phra Achan Nak used simple techniques and light shades to paint the sky and the ground. His unique method of mingling light terracotta colour with pale indigo shade shows much influence of the Ayutthaya art. Artists in the next, i.e.the Rattanakosin,era (1782 AD), used dark hues for the background to enhance a sharp contrast of the colour of human figures in the paintings.

Paints prepared from natural substances

4. Each line of Phra Achan Nak is so powerful. He painted without sketching, so all lines were confidently drawn, especially those of the chief giants or monkeys. However, when Phra Achan Nak painted women figures like the four wives of Makha Manop, the lines were gentle.

A detail from the scene of Makha Manop building
a pavilion showing gentle lines of women figures

Biography and Works of Phra Achan Nak
There is no evidence about the dates of birth and death of this artistic monk. What we know is that he lived from the late Ayutthaya and the Thon Buri period until the reign of Rama I, during which, he (as a Buddhist monk) lived at Wat Thong Phleng in the suburban area of the Bangkoknoi Canal. Later on, he moved to Wat Suwannaram on the Bangkoknoi canal's bank. Prince Naris, in a letter to Prince Damrong (both noted scholars and sons of Rama IV), praised him as "the supreme master in painting in the kingdom".

His work appeared at many places such as Wat Suwannaram, Wat Phra Chetuphon (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha), and Wat Ratchasittharam. Unfortunately, most of them either have faded or have been painted over by other artists with an aim to renovate them.

Details from the three worlds mural

The Conservation of Wat Rakhang's Murals
The Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Arts, Silpakorn University, conducted a conservation project to preserve these murals by method of copying and keeping the copies in a proper place. The objective is to enable people in the later generations to appreciate these high-valued works of art even though the real ones have faded. The project started early last year and completed near the end of the year.

This conservation project was originated in accordance with Achan Fua Hariphithak³'s intention. In 1946, he was the first person who saw the value of these murals and had fought to have them protected by appropriate measures from authorised organisations.

Details from the Three Worlds mural

¹Himmaphan is a forest in ancient northern India recorded in Buddhist scriptures.
²Si Thandon Sea is the name of seven seas between seven pairs of mounts according to Traiphum principles.
³Achan Fua Hariphithak (1910-1993), who won the titles of Artist of Distinction 1957 (Painting), and National Artist 1985 (Visual Art, Painting), was an instructor teaching painting at Silpakorn University. He was awarded the prestigious Magsaysay award in 1983 (Community Service Field).

For the correct pronunciation of romanized Thai words, see
Romanization System of
the Thai Language .