Back at the Museum

After many months of hiatus due to the Thai government's COVID-19 restrictions, things are finally starting to open up again. I am especially happy that the National Museum is finally reopening! Back in January, I started the museum's training workshop to become an English-language guide. I studied every week for about three months, and even went on an excursion with the group to Uthong.

Unfortunately, everything had to be stopped in April, and the museum is only just now reopening. I was overjoyed this week to step back onto the grounds of the Front Palace this week, my first time at the venerable old museum in months.

at the gates of the National Museum

It's a little unclear when and in what format the training workshops are going to resume, but for now, they are taking us around in small groups to visit some of the galleries.

I'm proud to say that the National Museum Volunteers have asked me to help out writing and editing SALA, the museum's official magazine! This week, I attended the same tour twice - on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. On Thursday, I carried a notebook and pen to take notes during the gallery tour while Elodie, our photographer, captured photos for the upcoming article.

Welcome back!

Today, I'm going to share some of the more interesting artifacts from the South Wing, which had been closed for a massive renovation for the past three years. The building still is not open to the public, but is due to have its grand re-opening in December. This isn't the article that I'm working on for SALA, but some of the information will be similar. Here, I'd just like to share some of the artifacts that I found especially interesting.

Welcome back to the National Museum!

This early Buddha image was found in Hadda, Afghanistan. Pre-Islamic Afghanistan had lots of Buddhist influence due to the Silk Road. Today, it's hard to imagine, but Afghanistan is home to some of the best Greco-Buddhist archaeological sites in the entire world! Sadly, one of the world's great Buddha statues, the Buddha of Bamyan (a wonderful towering statue carved directly into the face of a cliff) was destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban.

This is a fascinating piece, and one which I hope to write an article for at some point. The earliest Buddha images did not depict the Buddha as a person at all, but rather symbolic aspects of his teachings. However, when Alexander the Great's army conquered India and a local general-king converted to Buddhism, he couldn't fathom not depicting a religious figure in statue form. Thus, the very first Buddha statues had distinctly Greco-Roman (i.e. European) features! This one in particular was modeled after Apollo, the Greek god of light.

Despite what people think upon first looking at this image, this is not a figure of the Buddha! In fact, it is a representation of Mahavira, the founder of Jainism. Jainism is one of the world's oldest religions, and one of the three main religions (along with Hinduism and Buddhism) of India. You can tell that this is not an image of the Buddha, because unlike Buddha, who is always depicted in robes, the Jain image is naked.

This golden tablet depicts the 12 Acts of Buddha. It was created in India, but was discovered within the royal crypt at Wat Ratchaborana in Ayutthaya.

The reverse of the tablet is inscribed with the Ya Dhamma, a one-line essence of the core of Buddhist teachings given by a novice monk thousands of years ago. The translation is thus: "All phenomena arise from causes; these causes have been taught by the Tathagata (Buddha), and their cessation too has been proclaimed by the Great Samana (Buddha)."

This wooden statue of a Mahayana Boddhisatva is from Japan, and is carved in the Kamakura style.

Despite its ancient appearance, the image itself dates back only to the Meiji Period, a little over 100 years ago.

This wooden Buddha, inlaid in glass and gems, comes from Burma. It reflects the light and glistens as you walk around the gallery.

This is a statue of Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god of art and remover of obstacles. Students from the nearby Silpakorn and Thammasat Universities leave offerings and pray at the statue, especially before exams.

This Ganesha statue was a gift from the Dutch governor of Java (Indonesia) to King Rama V. When the king visited Indonesia, he requested a piece or two of Indonesian art to bring back to Siam. Instead, the governor sent an entire ship laden with art and artifacts as a gift for the king's private collection - now, the National Museum. It's huge, but (relatively) light at only 500 kg. This is because it is carved from a porous volcanic stone.

The Ganesha statue is unique in its unusual skull motif. You can see that the throne, jewelry, and crown of Lord Ganesha are made of skulls. Even his silk pants have a skull design. This particular statue was ordered by a Javanese king as a sort of talisman to protect his army from enemies. He would point the statue towards the enemy army as protection against black magic. This Ganesha image, therefore, is a very important piece of religious art, and is believed to give protection from evil.

These prehistoric beads are made with a really cool ancient technique. The stone they are made from is originally green. To create this type of bead, some stones are covered in beeswax, while others are left bare. The stones are then covered in honey for one month, and then burned. The stones that were uncovered, absorbed the honey, which turns to carbon when burned, turning the stone black. The stones that were covered in beeswax, turn orange. They were then etched using acid and soda ash. Beads like this are still made in parts of Nepal and Tibet.

And finally, we visited the new Dvavarti Room... but you can read more about them in a post I wrote a few months back (HERE).