Murals of Buddhist Temples in Northeastern Thailand: A Manifestation of Local Culture in Visual Art
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-1422Keywords:
Cultural integration, northeast Thailand, Theravada Buddhism, visual decoration, mural painting, Buddhist temples, religious art, ethnic historyAbstract
Introduction: The murals of Buddhist temples in northeastern Thailand, introduced with Theravada Buddhism in the 13th century, combine sacred and secular forms. Their content includes Buddhist stories, scenes of worship, sacrifices from primitive religions, and everyday life. Methodology: This study employs intercultural theories and approaches to religious art to analyze the elements of the murals. Results: The interaction between Theravada Buddhism and primitive religions significantly transformed the style, aesthetics, and scope of local Buddhist art. Discussions: This article explores how this artistic form integrates Theravada Buddhism with local culture, conveying national sentiments and humanistic customs from a visual perspective. Conclusions: The study highlights the historical significance of the murals in Buddhist temples in northeastern Thailand, confirming that they are more than decorative art; they are social images that transcend visual appreciation.
Downloads
References
Appleton, N. (2016). Jataka stories in Theravada Buddhism: narrating the bodhisatta path. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315590363
Assavavirulhakarn, P. (1990). The ascendency of theravada Buddhism in Southeast Asia. University of California.
Bovornkitti, L. (2005). The influence of Buddhism in historical Thai art. The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand, 30(2), 355-362. http://legacy.orst.go.th/wp-content/uploads/royin-ebook/247/FileUpload/559_8765.pdf
Brereton, B. P. (2010). Towards a definition of Isan mural painting: Focus on the heartland. The Journal of the Siam Society, 98, 185-204. https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/pub_jss/article/view/158339
Brereton, B. P. (2017). Envisioning the Buddhist cosmos through paintings: the Traiphum in central Thailand and Phra Malai in Isan. Social Science Asia, 3(4), 111-120. https://socialscienceasia.nrct.go.th/index.php/SSAsia/article/view/36
Brereton, B. P. y Yencheuy, S. (2010). Buddhist murals of northeast Thailand: Reflections of the Isan heartland. Chiang Mai Silkworm Books.
Chang, Y. (2022). Exploring Application Modes of Visual Arts: Naga Images of Thailand. Asian Journal of Arts and Culture, 22(2), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.48048/ajac.2022.257772 DOI: https://doi.org/10.48048/ajac.2022.257772
Chirapravati, P. (2009). Buddhism and Thai Art. Religion compass, 3(4), 566-579. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00148.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00148.x
Ferguson, J. P. y Johannsen, C. B. (1976). Modern Buddhist murals in Northern Thailand: a study of religious symbols and meaning 1. American Ethnologist, 3(4), 645-669. https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1976.3.4.02a00060 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1976.3.4.02a00060
Gordon, A. y Sirisambhand, N. (2002). Evidence for Thailand's Missing Social History: Thai Women in Old Mural Paintings. International Review of Social History, 47(2), 261-275. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020859002000603 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020859002000603
Green, A. (2018). Buddhist visual cultures, rhetoric, and narrative in late Burmese wall paintings. Hong Kong University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5790/hongkong/9789888390885.001.0001
Hu, C. T. (2019). La representación de la vida de los chinos y elementos chinos en los murales de la época de Rattanakosin en Tailandia (泰国拉达纳哥信时代壁画中的华人生活图景与中国元素). Exploración Artística, 33(3), 24-33. https://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/periodical/ysts201903005
Jiang, T. J. (2010). Un análisis breve de las características artísticas de la arquitectura budista en Tailandia. Vida Cultural, 5, 116-117. https://www.fjdh.cn/wumin/2010/12/085136134233.html
Jing, H. (2002). Historia del Budismo Theravada. Editorial de Cultura Religiosa.
Johnson, I. C. (2018). Doing fieldwork in an acrylic hell: mediations between personhood, art and ethnography in a Thai mural painting. Journal of Visual Art Practice, 17(1), 81-99. https://doi.org/10.1080/14702029.2017.1381009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14702029.2017.1381009
Keyes, C. (2016). Theravada Buddhism and Buddhist Nationalism: Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand. The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 14(4), 41-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2016.1248497 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2016.1248497
Kobbun, P. (2018). The Value and Roles of Thai Buddhist Literature in Thai Society. Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Studies, 377-397. https://doi.org/10.14456/hasss.2018.23
Krairiksh, P. (2014). Re-visioning Buddhist art in Thailand. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 45(1), 113-118. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463413000635 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463413000635
Lefferts, L. (2006). The “Bun Phra Wet” Painted Scrolls of Northeastern Thailand in the Walters Art Museum. The Journal of the Walters Art Museum, 149-170. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20650899
Lefferts, L. (2011). Textiles and social action in Theravada Buddhist Thailand. En A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture (pp. 48-69). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444396355.ch3 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444396355.ch3
McDaniel, J. T. (2011). The agency between images: the relationships among ghosts, corpses, monks, and deities at a Buddhist monastery in Thailand. Material Religion, 7(2), 242-267. https://doi.org/10.2752/175183411X13070210372706 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2752/175183411X13070210372706
Munier-Gaillard, C. (2013). 17th To Early 19th Century Burmese Murals in Relation to Murals of Siam and Lan Na. Journal of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University, 4(2), 235-304. https://so02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/fineartsJournal/article/view/77642
Nelson, R. (2020). Sangha as art public? Questions on Buddhist monks engaging with art in Theravada Southeast Asia. World Art, 10(2-3), 191-213. https://doi.org/10.1080/21500894.2020.1811755 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21500894.2020.1811755
On, T. E. (2023). Protecting Traditional Morality in Art: Using Contemporary Thai Visual Arts to Conserve the Murals of Wat Sanuan Wari Phatthanaram, Thailand. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies, 18(1), 67-79. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-008X/CGP/v18i01/67-79 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-008X/CGP/v18i01/67-79
Rod-Ari, M. (2009). Thailand: The symbolic center of the Theravada Buddhist world. Explorations, 9, 55-64. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/10708
Schmidt, L. (2010). Initial Findings on Wat Suthat: Presence, Power, and Merit‐Making in the Vihara Murals and Inscriptions. Religion Compass, 4(10), 588-605. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8171.2010.00242.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-8171.2010.00242.x
Schwartzbaum, P. M., Songkhla, W. N. y Massari, I. (1986). The conservation of mural paintings in Thailand. Studies in Conservation, 31(1), 90-95. https://doi.org/10.1179/sic.1986.31.Supplement-1.90 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/sic.1986.31.Supplement-1.90
Taylor, J. (1993). Buddhist revitalization, modernization, and social change in contemporary Thailand. Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, 62-91. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41035728 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1355/SJ8-1D
Trachoo, T., Laoakka, S. y Wannajun, S. (2014). Murales en edificios budistas: Contenido y rol en la vida diaria de la gente de Isan. Asian Culture and History, 6(2), 184. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ach.v6n2p184 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/ach.v6n2p184
Van Esterik, P. (1982). Interpreting a cosmology: Guardian spirits in Thai Buddhism. Anthropos.
Wang, W. y Wang, H. Y. (2020). Revitalization of the Sense of Place and the Protection of Normality for Local Temples in the Context of In-Situ in the Northeast, Thailand. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 44, 803-810. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIV-M-1-2020-803-2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIV-M-1-2020-803-2020
Wang, Y. Q. (2014). Arte de los patrones de impresión de la estampa de agua dorada del grupo étnico Dai (傣族金水漏印图案艺术). Revista de la Academia de Bellas Artes de Yunnan, 2, 65-69. https://doi.org/10.16230/j.cnki.yyxb.2014.02.016
Yian, G. G. (2015). Southeast Asian Images of Hell: Transmission and Adaptation. Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient, 101, 91-116. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26435099 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/befeo.2015.6210
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Yuan Xiong
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Non Commercial, No Derivatives Attribution 4.0. International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.), that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
