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Altars on the left side of the patio of Ancient Guanyin Temple (Guanyin gumiao 觀音古廟) (ศาลเจ้ากวนอิม San Tchaw Kuan Im)

From the Ground Up: Buddhism & East Asian Religions (FROGBEAR Project)

The Ancient Guanyin Temple (觀音古廟) (ศาลเจ้ากวนอิม San Tchaw Kuan Im) is a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand. This one room neighborhood temple was constructed during the reign of King Rama V, roughly from 1853-1910, as specified by the temple caretaker. The caretaker said that the temple was bombed during the Japanese invasion of Thailand in 1941, but was later rebuilt. The temple regularly hosts chanting groups, the majority of whom were specified to be Teochew Chinese (唐人). The caretaker stated that the temple has no state support, but does regularly pay money to a Chinese foundation. It is not known to what extent the temple has been renovated, nor how often, but the most recent set of renovations occured in 2021. The following pictures show the altar situated on the left side of the front patio of the temple. Image 01 shows an overview of the left side of the front patio, detailing the position of the Phra Mae Thorani altar within the left side of the patio. Phra Mae Thorani is a Southeast Asian "Mother Earth Goddess" (ព្រះម៉ែធរណី), or Neang Konghing (នាងគង្ហីង), who is known for wringing the waters of detachment out of her hair to drown Mara, who was a demon sent to foil Gautama Buddha's meditation under the Bodhi tree. There are Thai signs posted on the middle of each altar to indicated the number of incense sticks to be given. The left altar reads, จุคที่ 1 ธูป 5 ดอก meaning "Station 1: 5 Incense Sticks", and the right altar reads จุคที่ 3 ธูป 5 ดอก meaning "Station 3: 5 Incense Sticks." Image 02 shows a close up picture of the Phra Mae Thorani altar. The following pictures display the altar to the left. Image 03 shows an overview of the writing within the inner walls of the top of the altar. Image 04 shows a detailed close up of the incense pot with golden flower offerings sticking out from the incense ash. The golden flower offerings (Image 05) have images of children on them. Image 06 shows a closeup of writing on the right side reading 合眾平安 "may everybody be in peace"; Image 07 shows a closeup of the writing on the center of the altar upper wall 天地父母 "father and mother of heaven and earth"; Image 08 shows a closeup of the writing on the left side of the altar upper interior wall reading 保我黎民 "protect our common people." Image 09 shows an incomplete inscription on the outside rear side of the altar, available writing reads 地 (?) 慈座 (the 2nd character in this inscription likely has fallen off, and there is a portion of the 慈 character missing). Image 10 shows the column behind the altar from the perspective of the street. Image 11 shows the inscription on the column from the perspective of outside of the patio. Image 12 shows the column from the perspective of the street as it protrudes out of the roof. Image 13 shows the tile mural of a bird on the back wall by the altar. Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen.

Bangkok (Thailand); 13.739641; 100.509704

chi; tha

Cluster 3.4: Typologies of Text-Image Relations

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0440914

Non UBC

Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate

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