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Right Wing and Buddha Altar 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 right wing and Buddha altar of the Nanpu Temple (南埔宮). Image 01 shows an overview of the Buddha altar, atop a granite table with vases and flowers inside them, and various fruits, including buddha's hand fruit and peaches; in front of the table are prayer mats and stools. Behind the altar table is a red wheel, symbolizing the Dharma wheel. Image 02 shows the left wall of the wing, including a window with metal detailing and a red and yellow door, and Image 03 shows the right side of the wing, featuring a matching window and door. Image 04 shows the festoon hanging from the ceiling lamp in front of the altar, featuring golden pineapples. Image 05 shows the items on top of the table to the left, which include various Buddhas in the meditative position, and one laying Buddha, as well as a candle holder and metal lanterns. All of the Buddhas on the table are Thai-style Buddhas (Theravāda Buddhism), rather than those found across East Asia. Image 06 shows a close-up of the smaller Buddhas with glittering adornments, and the wooden elephant figures in front of them. Image 07 shows a closer image of the items in the middle, including the cased Golden Buddha, and a large censer in the front with a red bow. Placed inside the censer are three decorative incense sticks. These sticks can be seen throughout the temple, and the middle one has an inscription which reads from top to bottom, 生意興隆, "May your business prosper" with a 福 "fortune" below it. Above the inscription there is a pineapple and a pagoda. The incense sticks flanking the middle one have dragons on them. Behind the incense sticks are two Chinese "Golden Flower" (金花) offerings, and four peacock feathers. The temple caretaker specified that one week before the Chinese new year, they change out these golden flowers, and burn the old ones. There is also a Thai flower offering, called Phuang Malai (พวงมาลัย), laid off to the right side of the censer. Image 08 shows the Buddha figures to the immediate left of the center Buddha figure. There are figures in many positions, notably in the standing and meditative positions. In front of these figures are three small tea offerings. Image 09 and Image 10 show the far right figures atop the table, featuring more meditating Buddhas, and a large wooden lion figure, as well as a lantern and an opened red Fanta bottle. Red Fanta offerings are common in Thailand and have been for many years. The most common offering is the strawberry-flavored red Fanta. 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

10.14288/1.0443948

Non UBC

Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate

DSpace