SECTION I DATING THE PAST Fig. 1. Crown Prince Maha Vajiravudh. Photographed in 1907. A HISTORIOGRAPHY OF SUKHOTHAI ART A Framework in Need of Revision PIRIYA KRAIRIKSH PRESIDENT THE SIAM SOCIETY UNDER ROYAL PATRONAGE When, from 4 January to 9 March 1907, Crown Prince Maha the North) the least trustworthy. His hypotheses were accepted Vajiravudh (fig. 1) paid a visit to the cities in the North (Muang and improved by prominent scholars of his time, such as his Nua), whichatthattimereferred to cities lying betweenNakhon uncle, Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, and the historian George Sawan to the south and Uttaradit to the north, comprising Coedes. In deference to their works, scholars today continue to Kamphaeng Phet, Sawankhalok, Sukhothai and Phitsanulok, build their hypotheses on the opinions of these eminent scholars he could have been visiting terra incognita as far as the history of which in tum were based on the original framework laid down the monuments was concerned. After his return, he published by the Prince. in 1908 his attempt to throw light on these northern cities, Prince Vajiravudh spent eight days in Sukhothai using the entitled Rueng thieo Muang Phra Ruang (Story of An Excursion to Prince Patriarch Pavares Viriyalongkom' s transliteration of the the Cities of King Ruang). He stated that he was publishing it "in Ram Khamhaeng Inscription as his guide. First he consulted the the hope that it would give an opportunity for specialists in inscription, which says" Around this city ofSukhothai the triple archaeology to further their deliberations and to make hypoth­ fortifications measure 3,400 wa (6,800 metres)," so he measured eses on statements pertaining to the cities of Sukhothai, the circumference of the inner walls, which came to 170 sen Sawankhalok and Kamphaeng Phet" (Somdet Phra Borom 1908, (6,800 metres); this corresponded exactly to the 3,400 wa given 1). He also attempted to date the monuments and to place them in the inscription (Somdej Phra Borom 1908, 60). Thus the inner in their historical perspective. walls had to be the original walls of King Ram Khamhaeng's time and the middle and outer walls must have been later It is not my intention to have this book become a additions. textbook. My aim is to set up a framework so that At the time of the Prince's visit there were three large ponds those who are knowledgeable and enjoy archaeo­ (traphang)insidethecitywalls:TraphangThong(GoldenPond)to logical research can make a better picture of it. the east, Trap hang Ngoen (Silver Pond) to the west and Traphang Hence, even if there are readers who have different So (Lime Pond) to the north (fig. 2). The inscription says opinions from my own, I shall not be disappointed. On the contrary, if any one who does not agree with In the middle of this city of Sukhothai the water of me on any point, can clarify it for me, I shall be the Pho Si Pond is as clear and good to drink as the delighted and be thankful to him. Also I would feel water of the Khong (River Mekhong) in the dry that I had learnt more (pp. 2-3) season (Quoted in Somdej Phra Borom 1908, 61) The Prince probably would have been pleased to know that The Prince assumed that this passage probably referred to these his "framework" has been in use for over eighty years, and that ponds. scholars continue to embellish it just as he wished they would. In the middle of Traphang Thong is an island with Wat His methodology for dating was to correlate existing monu­ Traphang Thong on it. A large bell-shaped chedi (stupa) stood ments with those mentioned in chronicles and inscriptions. He there, built of bricks on a laterite base with eight subsidiary thought that the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription (Inscription I) was chedis. The latter were mostly in a dilapidated state. There was the most dependable and the Phongsawadan Nua (the Chronicle of also an ubosot (convocation hall for monks) in the process of 12 PIRIY A KRAIRIKSH d'l;;1FiL1ib1t1 ~~11 1 .l mt~~nM-u =:oo I i Fig. 2. Map of Su khothai, published in 1908. Fig. 3. The wilwn of Wat Mai, Sukhothai, showing an Ayud hya prang inside the western porch. Pho tographed in 1907. A HISTORIOGRAPHY OF SUKHOTHAI ART 13 Fig. 4. SanTa Pha Daeng, Sukhothai. Photographed in 1907. Fig. 5. The prang of the Great Relic Monument at Wat Mahathat, Sukhothai. Photographed in 1907. construction. The Prince thought that the monastery might not Khuan); but the Prince thought that it should be corrected to have been an important one and probably was not very old. Wat Trakuan (Khmer language for an aquatic plant, Ipomea From WatTraphangThong the Prince went to see a ruined aquaticn), because the Khmer language was used inKing Lithai' s monastery whi ch the local people called Wat Mai (New Monas­ time. Since the Prince decreed that the correct name be Trakuan, tery). It had a ditch surrounding it, which led him to generalize Trakuan became the name of this ruin. There was a lone chedi that "old monasteries had ditches surrounding them all. The with an ubosot to the east of it. Here the Prince discovered a head ancients must have thought that the water simns [consecrated of a maknrn (mythical aquatic animal) which looked to him like areas defined by boundary markers or by water] were more a Thai makara on account of its facial expression (shown on table durable [than stone markers]" (Somdet Phra Borom 1908, 62). in fig . 1). It was made of underglazed black painted pottery like There was a wihnn (image house used as an assembly hall) with Sawankhalok ware. He thought it must have been a decoration a porch to the east and west. The western porch had a small for staircases or for architectural ornaments like roof finials. Ayud hya prnng (Khmer-style tower) on it(fig. 3). The wall to the North of Wat Trakuan was a shrine for a guardian spirit north still contained large rectangular windows, "like the win­ which the people called San (s hrine) Ta Pha Daeng (Grandfa­ dows of the present-day ubosot." So the Prince concluded that ther with the red cloth). It had the form of a prasat (a building "having seen the windows, it is possible to guess that the erected on a high foundation with multiple storeyed roof, construction is modern" (p. 63). whose use is reserved for kings or gods) constructed of large Next he came to a ruin which some people called Wat blocks of laterite (fig. 4) justlike theprasats atPhimai and Lopburi. Takon (sediments); others ca ll ed it Wat Ta Khuan (Grandfather The superstructure had fa llen down, but it probably had the 14 PIRIYA KRAIRIKSH ~ ~:~ . ' Fig. 7. The three prangs at Wat Sri Sawai. Photographed in 1907. (Large Assembly Hall), which was slightly bigger than the wihan of the Chinara t Image at Phi tsanulok. He believed that the Sri Sakyamuni image which had been brought down to Bang­ kok to be ensl11· i.ned in Wat Suthat originally had been the presiding image there. He speculated that Wat Mahathat m ust have been the royal temple and must have had the same function as that of Wat Phra Si Sanphet at Ayudhya, since it was located next to the royal palace. He then cross-checked w ith the Ram Khamhaeng Inscription, which says In the m iddle of this city of Sukhothai there is a wihan. There is a gold image of the Buddha. There are statues of the Anharasa (18 cubits or 8.37 metres in height] Buddha. There are Buddha images. There Fig. 6. Niche containing a stucco Buddha image decorating the are large images of the Buddha and medium-sized Great Relic Monument at Wat Mah athat, Sukhothai. ones; there are large wihans and medium-sized ones Photographed in 1907. (Quoted in Somdej Phra Borom 1908, 67). form of a prang. Since the prasat did not have a covered gallery So he concluded that this passage must have referred to Wa t around it, the Prince thought that it could not have been a Mahathat, for " ... there is a wihan; There is a gold image of the Brahmanical temple, but probably was a shrine for a guardian Buddha" could only have meant the Wihan Luang and prob­ spirit which must have been highly venerated in ancient ably the Sri Sakyamuni image. "Anharasa" meant standing Sukhothai because it was well built and of excellent workman­ Buddha images 18 cubits high, many of which were represented ship. Hence he gave it the name San Phra Sua Muang (Shrine of there. As for the "large images of the Buddha and medium­ the Guardian Spirit of the Kingdom). sized ones" and "large wihans and medium-sized ones," they Next the Prince visited the ruined monastery which some were all there to be seen. Thus by correlating the ruins of Wa t people called Wat Yai (Large Monastery); others called it Wat Mahathat with the above passage in Inscription I, the Prince Mahathat (Monastery of the Great Relics), located at the centre dated the monuments a t Wat Mahathat to King Ra m of the city. He noticed that it was a large monastery with Khamhaeng' s reign. coun tless buildings. The most important structure there was the To the east of Wat Mahathat the Prince noticed a platform Great Reli quary Monument, whose finial was in the form of a bereft of any sign of walls or pillars, without even a pile of stucco slender prang, beautiful and curious to behold (fig.