Royal Park Rajapruek
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Warrior and rabid defender of the US Constitution. We strive to remain financially friendly. Amenš
Warrior and rabid defender of the US Constitution. We strive to remain financially friendly. Amenš
ST UnWoked & UnVaxxed! 
I canāt believe such a gorgeous, opulent environ exists in the world, and I know nothing about the culture which produced it. Zilch. Imma spend most of today educating me. Thanks for this, Simon.
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I am reading David K. Wyatt’s “Thailand: A Short History.” At 352 pages it does not seem so ‘short’ to me. It is a bit dry and I would not recommend it for anyone who does not have a keen interest in history and/or this particular corner of the world.
From the back of the book: “David K. Wyatt was the John Stambauh professor of History at Cornell University for many years before his retirement. He was considered one of the foremost authorities on Thai history and was highly respected for his understanding, use, collection, and translation of early Thai texts. He died in 2006.”
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Okay here is my very first, hazy attempt at getting a clue, inspired by STās beautiful picture of this magnificent Buddhist temple. As everybody knows, Buddhism is an Indian religion dating from 6th cent BC. In 3rd cent BC an Indian ruler Ashoka the Great became a devout convert and sent out many monks to,proselytize for Buddhism. India was the dominant superpower then, its influence in art culture and religion extended through Southeast Asia incl Siam. But India was so huge it began regionalizing and there was a resurgence of Hinduism and older sects. So Buddhism declined in its birthplace but not in the areas like Siam to which it had been imported. Islam reached India during the prophetās lifetime; thereās a mosque in India dating from 629 AD. Islam was of course hostile to Buddhism because of Islamās NO STATUES! iconoclasm. So I reckon from 3rd Cent BC on Buddhism was dominant in Siam, and today in Thailand it still is with only about 5% max being Muslim.
So far so good….but I think Rajapruek was built in about 1230 AD…? So, um, I still donāt have much of a clear idea of the intervening 13 centuries. Which ruler built this temple? And how? I mean, was it a joint effort of the community like the medieval European cathedrals? Had the then-ruler conquered some nation whose population was enslaved to do the construction? And was it a place of worship for the populace, or just for the ruling class? Simon, when you visit again, maybe they have a guidebook in English which could answer any of these questions.
Finally, isnāt it …ironic, I reckon is what I mean, that thisBuddhist temple looks So much like the royalpalace where Prince Siddhartha was born, and whose splendors he foreswore to seek out oblivion by sitting under a tree? And we could of course observe the same thing about Jesusā life and the later opulence of church buildings,
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My dearest Hypatia, you have roamed far afield. I should be able to answer most of your questions from my Thai history book and what little I was able to pick-up about the Royal Park Rajapruek.
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Thanks for launching me out into the Indian and Pacific Oceans!
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Give me a ‘minute’ na krap
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If you think we arenāt being watched: this AM I got an unsolicited ad from TripAdvisor: ā Plan your trip to Chiang Mai,ā. ( oh if only I could!) But I think it has to be because of what I posted here.
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āPlan your trip to Chiang Mai,ā. ( oh if only I could!)”
Come to Chiang Rai (God and nCOVID-19 permitting) instead and from March-October of 2021 you can have free lodging, scooter/motorbike, and ‘rental’ car.
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Beautiful!
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