Thailand-Architecture

Religion

Buddhism

Ladha Singh

First Sikh who arrived in 1890

Sikhs

Operate a free school for poor children, regardless of caste, creed, or religion, and through several charitable associations they support the aged and the sick

Sandstone

Door parts, lintels and rectangular windows

Bricks

Replaced sandstone as the favoured mortar, bounded with vegetable glue and then sheathed in carved stone

Stucco

Sand, lime and glue mixture strengthened by terracotta armature, later used to cover brick walls

Wood

Employed in temple construction

Porcelain

Used for ornamental decorations

Glass mosaic pieces

To highlight gables and pillars

Lacquer, gilt, inlaid mother of pearl, gold leaf

To obtain gleaming elegance

Dvaravati Period

Circular or bell-shaped stupas, brick structures, and symbolic carvings of the buddha’s life

Khmer-Lopburi

Sandstone temples with tall central towers (prasats), intricate carvings of Hindu deities, and axial layouts.

Sukhothai

Lotus-bud chedis, elegant Buddha images with serene expressions, and open-air temple layouts.

Ayutthaya

Towering prangs, multi-tiered roofs, and richly decorated facades

Rattanakosin

Gilded temples, mirrored mosaics, and elaborate rooflines; use of Western symmetry and engineering

Pho Khun Sri Indraditya

Became the first King of Sukhothai

Prang

The thai version Khmer temple towers, mostly seen in temples from Sukhothai and the Ayutthaya period

Chedi

Also known as a stupa it is mostly seen in the form of a bell-shaped tower, often accessible and covered with gold leaf, containing a relic chamber

Wat Si Cham

Largest, most puzzling and historically important temples of Sukhothai period

Wat Yai Chaya Mongkol

One of the largest and most properous empires of its time

King Ramathibodi

Founded in the lower Chao Phraya

Ayutthaya

The former capital of Siam was one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated cities before it was ransacked by the Burnese in 1756

Sukhothai

Founded in 1238, (The Dawn of Happiness) was a capital of an early Thai Kingdom

Chiangmai/Lan Na period

Land of million rice fields

King Phya Mangrai

Chiangmai founded by

Wat Phra Kaew

Elongated columns and surrounded by prachedi

Throne Room of the Royal Grand Palace, Bangkok

Two main roofs intersect at right angles, in cruciform plan, with spire rising at the intersection

Government House, Bangkok

Presents a relatively ecleticism by Italian architect Annebale Rigotti and incorporates elaborate stone window tracery

Nation Building, Bangkok

To advertise the client’s involvement in moderm communications

Houses elevated due to

Heaving flooding/ predators

Roof gable (Ngao)

A distinctive feature is the elegant curved decoration at the ends of the peaked bargeboards surrounding the gables

Kamthieng House

Representative of Lanna-thai houses found in Changmai, North Thailand

Northern Houses

Walls lean outward giving it a sturdier look, and windows are often smaller

Kalae

Notable decorative feature is the V-shaped designs at the ends of the roof called

Northern Rice barns

Raised on pillars and with a ladder for access, it is a solid structure with few windows, used to store grain

Floating Houses

The floorboards in such structures are loosely fitted to allow for movement as the water rises and falls

Sala Thai

Open pavilion used as a meeting place and to protect people from sun and rain

Sala

Open pavilion providing shade and a place to rest

Royal houses

Generally closer to the ground and had more decorative features

Tamnak Daeng

Built by King Rama I as a residence for one of this queens

Wat

A group of religious buildings generally enclosed by a wall with gateway

Phra chedi

The most venerated religious structure for buddhist

Phra prang

New form of Thai stupa, square in plan and domical in roofing

Phra

Sacred

Prang

Shrine

Pra Sat

Square sanctuary with its high pointed domical roof. Sometimes a “castle” or “temple”

Mondrop

Square in plan, cubical in form with pyramidal roof. To enshrine some holy object and may also serve as library and storeroom for objects used in religious ceremonies

Kuti

Small House of the monks. A monastery formed by series of small rooms, some of which have verandah in front of it

Ubosot

Many lay people are gathered inside listening to the Ajarn’s Dhamma talk

Parian

Monastic Education

Sala Kan Parian

Large open hall where lay people can hear sermons or receive religious education

Hor Trai

The temple library or scriptures depository houses the sacred Tipitaka scriptures

Vinaya Pitaka

dealing with rules for monks and nuns

Sutta Pitaka

Mostly ascribed to the Buddha, but some to disciples

Abhidhamma Pitaka

Variously described as philosophy, phychology, metaphysics

Wat

Properly used to refer only to a buddhist site with resident monks

Bell

Shaped style Chedi

Square Chedi

Sites on a terrace or platform often with an enclose walkway for devotees to make ritual circumbulation

Indented Chedi

Small dome balance on a square base with indented corners

Suwanna Chedi, Prang

Shaped like a corn cob standing on top of a square or cruciform building with an entrance on one side

Suwanna Stepped Chedi

Square stepped base, with 5 tiers above, each of the four faces containing 3 Buddha images

Crematorium

Recognizable because it has a tall chimney

Sala Kan Prian

Open sided pavilion or preaching hall

Ho rakang

Bell struck to call the monks to devotions

Bhodi tree or a Buddha footprint