Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c44.4

c44.4

Essentially Buddhistic, the architecture of Siam, owing to the geographical accessibility of the country, shows perceptibly in its characteristics the influences of the Buddhist countries with which in the course of its history it came into contact A few references may suffice to explain the extent and diversity of these external currents on the Siamese style of building at different periods. For instance in the temple of Maha-Tat, presumably of the twelfth century, at Sawank'alok, the tower, or sikhara, shows an affinity to those erected in the tenth and eleventh centuries by the Palas of Bengal, and in its detailed treatment to those of Angkor in Cambodia, or the Bhubaneswar temples of Orissa in Eastern India. The temple of Na Pra Tat (c. eleventh century ?) " is akin to the Javanese style of the seventh or eighth century", while in the temple of Chat Yot near Chiengmai there is a distinct resemblance to the shrine of Budh Gaya in Behar; it should be explained however that this great Indian monument, owing to its special sanctity on account of its personal associations with the Buddha, has been the original model for a number of buildings in Buddhist Asia. At Lamp'un the temple of P'ra Yun is reminiscent of the That-Byin-Nyu at Pagan, and, from a more distant source, the shrine of the temple at Shri-Sarap'et in Ayudhya there is an approach to that of the Lankatilaka (Jetawanarama) of the twelfth century at Polonnaruwa in Ceylon. The list might be extended, the resemblance of some of these examples being more convincing than others, but they provide evidences that the master-builders of Siam not only received the impact of these external currents but were also sufficiently impressionable, as well as skilful, as to be able to make use of them in giving variety to the style of their own architectural conceptions.