Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [46]
Like the sacred banyan trees and the holy temples, Lak Meuang receives daily supplications from Thai worshippers, some of whom commission classical Thai dancers to perform lákon gâa bon (shrine dancing) as thanks for granted wishes. Offerings also include those cute yet macabre pigs’ heads with sticks of incense sprouting from their foreheads.
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THE EMERALD BUDDHA
The lofty perch of the Phra Kaew (Emerald Buddha) in Wat Phra Kaew signifies its high status as the ‘talisman’ of the Thai kingdom. No one knows exactly where the Buddha comes from or who sculpted it, but it first appeared on record in 15th-century Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. Like so many famous Buddha images around Southeast Asia, legend says it was sculpted in India and brought to Siam by way of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). But stylistically it seems to belong to Thai artistic periods of the 13th to 14th centuries. Despite the name, the sacred sculpture is actually carved from a single piece of nephrite, a type of jade.
Some time in the 15th century, this Buddha is said to have been covered with plaster and gold leaf and placed in Chiang Rai’s own Wat Phra Kaew. Many valuable Buddha images were masked in this way to deter potential thieves and marauders during unstable times. Often the true identity of the image was forgotten over the years until a ‘divine accident’ exposed its precious core. The Emerald Buddha experienced such a divine revelation while it was being transported to a new location. In a fall, the plaster covering broke off, revealing the brilliant green inside. But while his was seen as a divine revelation, the return of the Phra Kaew would prove anything but peaceful for the people of Siam and Laos.
During territorial clashes with Laos, the Emerald Buddha was seized and taken to Vientiane in the mid-16th century. Some 200 years later, after the fall of Ayuthaya and the ascension of the Bangkok-based kingdom, the Thai army marched up to Vientiane, razed the city and hauled off the Emerald Buddha. The return of this revered figure was a great omen for future fortunes of this new leadership. The Buddha was enshrined in the then capital, Thonburi, before the general who led the sacking of Vientiane assumed the throne and had it moved to this location.
A tradition that dates back to this time is the changing of the Buddha’s seasonal robes. There are now three royal robes: for the hot, rainy and cool seasons. The three robes are still solemnly changed at the beginning of each season. This duty has traditionally been performed by the king, though in recent years the crown prince has presided over the ceremony.
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Lak Meuang is across the street from the eastern wall of Wat Phra Kaew, at the southern end of Sanam Luang.
THANON MAHARAT
Map
btwn Th Phra Chan, Th Na Phra Lan & Mae Nam Chao Phraya; air-con 503 & 508, ordinary 32, 53 & 91; Tha Chang (N9)
The northern stretch of this street is one of Bangkok’s most interesting. On the opposite side of Wat Mahathat’s whitewashed walls, the street is monopolised by ancient Thai industries: herbal apothecaries and amulet dealers. In the cool season, medicinal bowls of ginger-infused broth are sold from steaming cauldrons to stave off winter colds (yes, seriously!). Outdoor displays of pill bottles are lined up and dusted daily like prized antiques. Each remedy bears a picture of a stoic healer, a marketing pitch that puts a human face on the medicine. Further along, the amulet market (đalàht prá krêuang; Click here) spills out of its medieval warren into the street, forcing pedestrians to run zigzag patterns through the plastic mats (the Thai equivalent of blanket stalls) on which the tiny images