Today's post is going to be a little different! It is the first in what may be a new series about art history in Asia. Today, I'll be taking you to the Bangkok National Museum for a visit to the Buddhaisawan Chapel. I'll talk more about the chapel itself in an upcoming post, but for today, I want to feature the incredible murals on the chapel's walls.

Buddhaisawan Chapel in Bangkok (right), today part of the Bangkok National Museum

Like stained glass in a Christian church, the murals on the walls of the chapel were painted to teach people who may have been illiterate the story of the life of the Buddha. Buddhism is such an important part of life in Thailand, but I realize that many of my readers might not know much about it or about the story of the life of the Buddha.

Today, I'll try my best (from a western, non-Thai, non-Buddhist perspective) to share with you the story of the life of the Buddha as told by the murals in the Buddhaisawan Chapel.

The chapel, once the private chapel to the Uparaja, or "Second-King", holds the Phra Buddha Sihing, the second-most important Buddha image in the kingdom. I'll write more about this statue's interesting history next time.

The chapel's walls are painted in a stunning collection of 28 panels detailing the life of the Buddha. Most panels are original, dating back to the earlies days of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (post-Ayutthaya; late 18th century), but a few were restored during the reign of King Rama IV. They contain many minor stories of the Buddha's life, but I will really only be focusing on the main story.

Before we begin, just a quick note about the murals themselves. Unusually, they are painted with color on top of a black base. The murals were painted in a painstaking tempera process with brushes made from the inner ear of a cow so as to be fine enough to paint tiny details. The murals were painted by monks and old masters from recently-fallen Ayutthaya in a style designed to evoke the past splendors, wealth, and power of the old kingdom.

The paints were made from natural components: black = soot; red = cinnabar; white = calcite; blue = indigo; green = copper salts; gold = real gold.

The Life of the Buddha as told by the murals in the Buddhaisawan Chapel

The story begins in the year 623 BC (hence the current Thai / Buddhist Era year of 2564).

The story begins with the wedding of King Suddhodana and Queen Mahamaya in Asoka Garden in India. The family was a powerful and extraordinarily wealthy noble family of the warrior caste, and the wedding was full of fitting splendor.

Among the guests in attendance were the Hindu gods Indra (green, in the center) and Brahma (with four faces, on the right). This was a sign that the family was going to have a very important role to play in the future of the world.

Up in Heaven, the god Indra speaks with the Boddhisattva, or Buddha-to-be, to convince him to reincarnate on earth one last time. The Boddhisatva had already achieved perfection throughout his previous lives, but Indra convinced him to come back down to teach. Indra allowed the Boddhisatva to choose his own parents, time, and place of his final rebirth. Despite having achieved perfection, the Boddhisatva, like the Hindu gods, had not yet achieved enlightenment, and had not yet escaped from Samsara - the Buddhist cycle of suffering through birth, death, and rebirth.

Meanwhile, Queen Mahamaya had a dream in which she was carried away by the gods to a beautiful garden. In her dream, a royal white elephant carrying a lotus in its trunk circled her three times. When she awoke, she discovered that she was pregnant. This is a Buddhist version of an Immaculate Conception.

Prince Siddharta Gautama was born in a place in India called Lumpini (there is a city park in Bangkok named 'Lumpini Park' after this important Buddhist site) under the shade of a Sala tree. Upon his birth, he took seven steps, a beautiful lotus flower springing up out of the ground at each step. In this panel, we can see the baby Siddharta shaded from the sun by the gods Brahma and Indra, who would look over him and protect him throughout his life. Sadly, Siddharta's mother died seven days later from complications of childbirth.

This panel is interesting. It's a more recent restoration from the era of King Rama IV (late 19th century) depicting the Royal Ploughing Ceremony. During the ceremony, the seven year-old Siddharta fell asleep beneath a rose-apple tree and entered his first state of meditation. Throughout the day, the shade from the tree never left the boy, signifying his first entry into a state of timelessness. The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is still practiced to this day here in Thailand, presided over by the Royal Court Brahmins. Note the foreign guests in attendance in their European-style uniforms. At the time of King Rama IV, Europeans (here, believed to be British and French), despite on-and-off alliances with Siam, were still an increasing concern in Indochina. It would have been a common sight for visiting foreigners to be guests of honor at a Royal Ploughing Ceremony at the time.

Prince Siddharta grew up in every luxury, shielded from life outside of his palace walls. One day, while out on a ride in his chariot for the very first time, he comes across three sights that shock him. He sees an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. Prince Siddharta had been so shielded in luxury that he had never known of age, illness, or death. Looking around, he is dismayed at the suffering that he sees all around him and disgusted at the pampered life that he had lived. He also saw a wandering holy man, a renunciant (believed to be the sect of Hinduism from which the Jain faith is descended). Believing this to be the correct path to follow, Prince Siddharta makes a decision.

The prince sneaks out of his palace at night, leaving his family and immense wealth behind. He mounts his horse, and rides off into the wilderness. The god Indra holds the horses mouth shut so that it doesn't make a noise and wake the household, and the god Brahma guides the horse. Prince Siddharta is looked on with loathing by Mara, the god (demon, really) of wealth, greed, attachment, and all things that hold a being back from enlightenment (fear, anger, ignorance, aversion, negative emotion, etc). Mara is a sort of devil figure in Buddhism, and philosophically, a representation of embodied ego.

In the forest, Prince Siddharta takes a ceremonial blade and cuts his princely braid off. He renounces his wealth and his caste, gives up all earthly pleasure, and becomes Gautama the Renunciant. For six years, Gautama meditates, continuing to study alone without a master. During this time, he nearly wastes away, depriving himself of food and subsisting on a single grain of rice per day. You will sometimes see statues of a gaunt and skeletal Buddha at temples in Thailand. This represents this period in the Buddha's life. Gautama was not satisfied, though. He realized that forcing yourself to suffer did nothing to ease suffering on earth. 

As Gautama lay starving and close to death, Indra appeared holding a three-stringed lute. He plucked the first string, but it was too slack to produce any noise. Then, he plucked the third string, which was wound so tightly that it snapped. Finally, he plucked the middle string, which produced a beautiful and melodious note. Gautama realized that neither immense luxury nor extreme asceticism were the path forward toward enlightenment.

At that moment, a woman approached. Mistaking Gautama for a tree spirit, she offered him a bowl of sweet rice pudding. Gautama accepts, eating the pudding and becoming restored. He has found the Middle Way, the essential central tenant upon which Buddhism is based.

Realizing that Gautama is about to achieve enlightenment, the villainous god of greed, Mara, sends his three beautiful daughters to try to tempt Gautama away from his meditation. They fail, and Gautama meditates, achieving enlightenment and becoming the Buddha.

While the Buddha sits in deep meditation beneath a Bodhi tree, Mara furiously tries to distract and disrupt his enlightenment. He sends a massive army to dislodge the Buddha. The army consists of ogres, monsters, demons, and foreigners (another addition from the reign of Rama IV, when European powers were conquering every country which surrounded Siam). In the bottom right corner, you can see what is believed to be a European soldier on horseback.

Mara taunts the Buddha. "You may have achieved enlightenment, but who will bear witness to you?" The Buddha replies "the earth shall bear witness". At that moment, the pre-Buddhist river goddess Thorani springs up from the ground. "I will bear witness", she announces. She rings out her hair, causing a flood and washing away the Army of Evil. Thorani is celebrated every year on Loi Krathong, the Thai river festival.

Mara is pacified, his weapons turning into lotus blossoms as his army is washed away. The Buddha has resisted temptation and distraction. Symbolically, this represents overcoming distraction in meditation and negative emotions in life.

Convinced by the god Brahma to share his teachings with the world, the Buddha calls his first disciples, ordaining them as the first monks. This is celebrated at Dharma (Teachings) Day, or Asanha Bucha Day in Thailand.

What follows are several mural panels of the Buddha's miracles and teachings. I'm going to move on to the most important parts of the story.

The Buddha continues to teach. In this panel, you can see that even the gods (including Indra and Brahma) are in attendance. At this point, the enlightened Buddha has surpassed even the powerful Hindu gods (who are themselves subject to the endless cycle of rebirth) and become an enlightened being who can teach the entire cosmos.

One day, rival holy men (probably Hindu brahmins) challenge the Buddha to a contest of miracles. They invite him to meet beneath a mango tree, but the jealous holy men cut down every mango tree in the area. Unperterbed, the Buddha withdraws a single mango seed from his robes and places it on the ground. Instantly, a fully-grown mango tree springs up. The Buddha manifests four images of himself in the tree - two sitting and two reclining. Then, the Buddha enters a state of meditation were he travels to heaven to meet and teach his mother.

The Buddha spends the Rainy Season in heaven (this period is symbolized in the present-day Rains Retreat period, when monks stay in their home monasteries for the whole season and do not wander). When he descends from heaven, the levels of the universe split open for a moment, and he teaches all of the realms of being - heaven, earth, and hell.

The Buddha's aunt, who raised him after his mother died, asks to be ordained. At first, the Buddha refuses to ordain women, but he is convinced, and ordains the first nuns. This story is important. It shows that the Buddha himself can change his mind when presented with new information and new context, and it's a lesson not to be too closed-minded. As the Dalai Lama himself said, ""If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change." I think that this is an important lesson for all of life. It is ok to change our minds. We shouldn't be too stubborn in our opinions. 

The Buddha knew that he was nearing the end of his life. Buddhist monks are not allowed to own any possessions except for their monk's bowls and their robes. They cannot use money, and must eat only what is donated to them. One day, a well-meaning follower offered some tainted pork to the Buddha. Knowing that it was spoiled, the Buddha forbade anyone else from eating it, but graciously accepted the dish himself. He was poisoned, and knew that he was going to die.

The Buddha reclined beneath a Sala tree (the same type of tree beneath which he was born). Reclining Buddha statues, such as the one in Wat Pho, are very popular in Buddhism. In these statues, the Buddha is never in pain but is shown happy and serene as he reaches Nirvana (the end of suffering). The Buddha passed away, achieving perfect enlightenment and finally escaping the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The Buddha is said to have been born, achieved enlightenment, and died on the same date. This day is celebrated as Nirvana Day, or Visakha Bucha Day.

At the Buddha's funeral, the pyre failed to light, until one of the Buddha's first and most favorite monks arrived. At the moment he prayed over the pyre, it self-ignited. This monk would continue the Dharma, and was seen as the chosen successor of the Sangha (community of monks), very much like St. Peter as the first pope.

At the Buddha's funeral, great kings from all around the land gathered. Each of them requested holy relics from the Buddha's funeral pyre - teeth, hair, shards of bone - all believed to contain great power. A brahmin priest offered to divide the relics fairly amongst the kings, but hid one of the best ones within the topknot in his hair. Indra is depicted flying down from heaven to pluck the relic from the brahmin's hair, and gently scold him. It's a humorous end to the fairly serious religious story.

The chapel's upper walls are painted in beautiful and colorful images of devas - gods, angels, and higher-level beings from the upper planes of Buddhist heaven (of which there are 32 levels!).

 The eyes of every one of these paintings are turned upon the final mural panel depicting the Buddha's funeral stupa, which holds his ashes and remains. This is seen as the most important panel in the chapel.

As a funny side note, artists were allowed, even encouraged, to put their own touches on the murals. While I focused on the mid level of the murals, the lower third of the walls depict everyday life of the people of ancient India as imagined by 18th and 19th century Siamese artists. As such, it's really a look at 18th and 19th century Siamese life! Artists seemed to have fun with this part, depicting wrestling, gambling, funny scenes, inside jokes, and even people they knew. For example, you might try to hide a funny caricature of your mother-in-law or your friend. They really reflect everyday life. My favorite moment in this part of the murals is this tiny detail of two random European spies. It's so out of place, but it really reflects how concerned Siam was with encroaching foreign power - every surrounding country except Siam was colonized by European powers in the 19th century. Today, Thailand has the unique distinction of being the only Southeast Asian country never to have been a colony of a foreign power, but it was a real concern at the time!

And there you have it! I hope that you have enjoyed my attempt at telling the story of the Buddha through these murals. Again, I'm a Christian, I'm not a Buddhist myself, so I hope that I did a good job telling the story in a correct and respectful way. I hope that you learned something about Buddhism, art history, and Eastern culture! If you liked this art history post, I might write more like this in the near future.