Open Collections

Entranceway of the Nanpu Temple (南埔宮) (ศาลเจ้าแม่อาเหนียว)

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

The Nanpu Temple (南埔宮) (ศาลเจ้าแม่อาเหนียว) is a one-room Guanyin 觀音 temple in Bangkok, Thailand. According to the temple caretaker, the temple is over two hundred years old and is one of the five oldest shrines in Bangkok. It was originally constructed from the wood of the boats used to by China immigrants who moved into this neighborhood in Thailand. The temple is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The temple has regular chanting groups of mostly women that come every Thursday and chant in Chinese. The temple is run by a committee, but the name and nature of the organization is largely unknown; the temple caretaker said that the committee members are picked from the neighborhood using divination tactics and visit the temple only once a month. The temple caretaker specified that the majority of the people who live in the immediate proximity of the temple are family, and that they are "descendants of Guanyin." It is unclear whether he meant descendants from those who established the Guanyin shrine or literally descendants of Guanyin herself. He continually referred to the community around the shrine by this name. The temple is also said to have a decent amount of tourist activity. Fieldwork participants visited two times over the course of 2023. During the first visit in May of 2023, the temple caretaker made specific note to bring attention to the valuable incense pots given by King Rama V or King Chulalongkorn (จุฬาลงกรณ์) (1853-1910)(1868-1910), as well as antique ceramic plates from China that they held in their cupboard. Many people offer to buy these items, but the caretaker never dared to sell them, believing that his fate would be similar of the two past temple caretakers, who Guanyin supposedly took in their sleep as they were cheating the temple out of donation money. When fieldwork participants visited again in December 2023, however, these items had vanished. The following images show the entranceway of the Nanpu Temple (南埔宮) (Image 01). The sign on the top reads, 佈恩波. On either side of the door are festoons depicting with gold fish and handheld red fans (手扇). The inscription to the left of the door reads, 恩深銘五內慈航普渡慶平波, and the inscription to the right of the door reads, 佈告勸十方苦淊回頭便是岸. Image 02 shows the items left of the doorway, with the inscription on the red wooden beam, 埔臨(?) 湄江流域红【紅】連法相現玉宮. Next to the inscription is a flower, and above that an orange plaque which lists the names of the donors, all likely from S.D. Wheel Marketing, and the plaque's date is listed as 2021. Above that is a portrait of King Rama IX, or Bhumibol Adulyadej (ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช). There is a lantern hung from the overhead beam, which reads 恭喜發財, meaning "Congratulations and prosperity." Behind the lantern is a window into the temple adorned with beads, with flower petals around border. Image 03 shows the items to the right of the doorway, with the inscription on the red wooden beam 南及佛國京郊紫竹叢林照梵影. On the left of the inscription is a granite flower, with a plaque saying that the temple is under the protection of the Thai Ministry of the Interior. Above the plaque is a portrait of King Rama IX's wife Sirikit (พระบรมราชชนนีพันปีหลวง) (b. 1932). This is paired with the portrait of King Rama IX, or King Bhumibol Aduladej (1927-2016) on the other side of the door. There is a matching flower window on this side with brown beads adorning it. There is also a red table and some chairs. Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen.

Bangkok (Thailand); 13.721964; 100.492967

chi; tha

Cluster 3.4: Typologies of Text-Image Relations

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0443930

Non UBC

Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate

DSpace