Reclining Buddha or Wihan Phra Phuttha Saiyat
This is the big Reclining Buddha image in Ayutthaya, Thailand, housed in what was once a large hall called the Wihan Phra Phuttha Saiyat. This hall was part of a larger temple complex called the Wat Yai Chaimongkol or The Monastery of Victory- we will get to those parts later, as we go long in this album. (see subsequent pictures later in this album). This idol is apparently held in great reverence by devotees and visitors alike. Although photography was allowed freely around the massive statue, there were restrictions about not to touch, not to go beyond this point etc. I noted several locals pass by, kneel and offer a prayer, some even lighting incense sticks, and then moving along. A reclining Buddha is an image that represents Buddha lying down and is a major iconographic theme in Buddhist art. It represents the historical Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana. After the Buddha's death, his followers decide to build a statue of him lying down. Incidentally, this is not the original reclining Buddha statue which was housed in Wihan Phra Phuttha Saiyat- rather this is a replica made in the 1960s. (Ayutthaya, Thailand, Oct. 2008)
Reclining Buddha or Wihan Phra Phuttha Saiyat
This is the big Reclining Buddha image in Ayutthaya, Thailand, housed in what was once a large hall called the Wihan Phra Phuttha Saiyat. This hall was part of a larger temple complex called the Wat Yai Chaimongkol or The Monastery of Victory- we will get to those parts later, as we go long in this album. (see subsequent pictures later in this album). This idol is apparently held in great reverence by devotees and visitors alike. Although photography was allowed freely around the massive statue, there were restrictions about not to touch, not to go beyond this point etc. I noted several locals pass by, kneel and offer a prayer, some even lighting incense sticks, and then moving along. A reclining Buddha is an image that represents Buddha lying down and is a major iconographic theme in Buddhist art. It represents the historical Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana. After the Buddha's death, his followers decide to build a statue of him lying down. Incidentally, this is not the original reclining Buddha statue which was housed in Wihan Phra Phuttha Saiyat- rather this is a replica made in the 1960s. (Ayutthaya, Thailand, Oct. 2008)