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Lak Muang (Lak Mueang) are City pillars found in most cities of Thailand. Usually housed in a shrine which is also believed to house Chao Pho Lak Mueang, the city spirit deity; it is held in high esteem by citizens. It was probably King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (Rama I), who erected the first city pillar on April 21, 1782, when he moved his capital from Thonburi to Bangkok. The shrine was actually the first building of his new capital, the Palace and other buildings were created later.<br/><br/> Wat Chedi Luang translates literally from the Thai as ‘Monastery of the Great Stupa’. Construction of the temple began at the end of the 14th century when the Lan Na Kingdom was in its prime. King Saen Muang Ma (1385-1401) intended it as the site of a great reliquary to enshrine the ashes of his father, King Ku Na (1355-85). Today it is the the site of the Lak Muang or City Pillar. The annual Inthakin ceremony occurs within the confines of the temple.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city'), sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, after whom the city was named. The city today has a population of 3.1 million. Jaipur is known as the Pink City of India.<br/><br/> The city is remarkable among pre-modern Indian cities for the width and regularity of its streets which are laid out into six sectors separated by broad streets 34 m (111 ft) wide. The urban quarters are further divided by networks of gridded streets. Five quarters wrap around the east, south, and west sides of a central palace quarter, with a sixth quarter immediately to the east. The Palace quarter encloses the sprawling Hawa Mahal palace complex, formal gardens, and a small lake. Nahargarh Fort, which was the residence of the King Sawai Jai Singh II, crowns the hill in the northwest corner of the old city. The observatory, Jantar Mantar, is a World Heritage Site.
Jaipur is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It was founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, after whom the city was named. The city today has a population of 3.1 million. Jaipur is known as the Pink City of India.<br/><br/> The city is remarkable among pre-modern Indian cities for the width and regularity of its streets which are laid out into six sectors separated by broad streets 34 m (111 ft) wide. The urban quarters are further divided by networks of gridded streets. Five quarters wrap around the east, south, and west sides of a central palace quarter, with a sixth quarter immediately to the east. The Palace quarter encloses the sprawling Hawa Mahal palace complex, formal gardens, and a small lake. Nahargarh Fort, which was the residence of the King Sawai Jai Singh II, crowns the hill in the northwest corner of the old city. The observatory, Jantar Mantar, is a World Heritage Site.
The precincts of Yupparat School were once the site of the palace, white elephant stables and other royal buildings of the chao or Lords of Chiang Mai, and quite possibly of the earlier Burmese and Lan Na Kings. The area has long been intimately associated with Chiang Mai royalty, and as recently as 1891, the surveyor James McCarthy’s map of Chiang Mai, published by the Royal Geographical Society, London, marks the area as being the residence of the ‘Chief’.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai, sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand, and is the capital of Chiang Mai Province. It is located 700 km (435 mi) north of Bangkok, among the highest mountains in the country. The city is on the Ping river, a major tributary of the Chao Phraya river.<br/><br/> King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city') in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom. The ruler was known as the Chao. The city was surrounded by a moat and a defensive wall, since nearby Burma was a constant threat.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai formally became part of Siam in 1774 by an agreement with Chao Kavila, after the Thai King Taksin helped drive out the Burmese. Chiang Mai then slowly grew in cultural, trading and economic importance to its current status as the unofficial capital of northern Thailand, second in importance only to Bangkok.
Watercolour with pen and ink of the 'Lord White Elephant', a rare and auspicious white elephant kept by the King at Amarapura. From: 'A Series of Views in Burmah taken during Major Phayre’s Mission to the Court of Ava in 1855'.
Samantabhadra is a Bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with Buddhist practice and meditation. Together with Shakyamuni Buddha and fellow bodhisattva Manjusri he forms the Shakyamuni trinity in Buddhism. He is the patron of the Lotus Sutra and, according to the Avatamsaka Sutra, made the ten great vows which are the basis of a bodhisattva. In China he is associated with action, whereas the bodhisattva Manjusri is associated with wisdom. In Japan this bodhisattva is often worshipped by the Tendai and Shingon sects, and as the protector of the Lotus Sutra by the Nichiren sect.
Ragamala Paintings are a series of illustrative paintings from medieval India based on Ragamala or the 'Garland of Ragas', depicting various Indian musical nodes, Ragas. They stand as a classical example of the amalgamation of art, poetry and classical music in medieval India. Ragamala paintings were created in most schools of Indian painting, starting in the 16th and 17th centuries and are today named accordingly, as Pahari Ragamala, Rajasthan or Rajput Ragamala, Deccan Ragamala, and Mughal Ragamala.
In Burma white elephants have been revered symbols of power and good fortune for centuries.<br/><br/> Amarapura was founded by King Bodawpaya of the Konbaung Dynasty as his new capital in May 1783. The new capital became a center of Buddhist reforms and learning. In 1800, Buddhist clergy from Sri Lanka obtained higher ordination in this city and founded the Amarapura Nikaya (Amarapura sect).<br/><br/> Bodawpaya's grandson, King Bagyidaw moved the Court back to Ava in November 1821. Bagyidaw's successor King Tharrawaddy again moved the royal capital back to Amarapura in February 1842.
In ancient times Miran was a busy trading center on the southern part of the Silk Road, after the route split into two (the northern route and the southern route), as caravans of merchants sought to escape travel across the harsh wasteland of the desert (called by the Chinese 'The Sea of Death') and the Tarim Basin.<br/><br/> They went by going around its north or south rim. It was also a thriving center of Buddhism with many monasteries and stupas. Marc Aurel Stein was the first archaeologist to systematically study the ruins at Miran in 1907. The many artifacts found in Miran demonstrate the extensive and sophisticated trade connections these ancient towns had with places as far away as the Mediterranean Sea.<br/><br/> Archaeological evidence from Miran shows the influence of Buddhism on artistic work as early as the first century BCE. Early Buddhist sculptures and murals excavated from the site show stylistic similarities to the traditions of Central Asia and North India and other artistic aspects of the paintings found there suggest that Miran had a direct connection with Rome and its provinces.
In ancient times Miran was a busy trading center on the southern part of the Silk Road, after the route split into two (the northern route and the southern route), as caravans of merchants sought to escape travel across the harsh wasteland of the desert (called by the Chinese 'The Sea of Death') and the Tarim Basin. They went by going around its north or south rim. It was also a thriving center of Buddhism with many monasteries and stupas.<br/><br/> Marc Aurel Stein was the first archaeologist to systematically study the ruins at Miran in 1907. The many artifacts found in Miran demonstrate the extensive and sophisticated trade connections these ancient towns had with places as far away as the Mediterranean Sea.<br/><br/> Archaeological evidence from Miran shows the influence of Buddhism on artistic work as early as the first century BCE. Early Buddhist sculptures and murals excavated from the site show stylistic similarities to the traditions of Central Asia and North India and other artistic aspects of the paintings found there suggest that Miran had a direct connection with Rome and its provinces.
The Mogao Caves, or Mogao Grottoes (Chinese: mò gāo kū), also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas and Dunhuang Caves, form a system of 492 temples 25 km (15.5 miles) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China.<br/><br/> The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out 366 AD as places of Buddhist meditation and worship. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the three famous ancient sculptural sites of China. The caves also have famous wall paintings.
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.<br/><br/> A raga uses a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is constructed. However, the way the notes are approached and rendered in musical phrases and the mood they convey are more important in defining a raga than the notes themselves. In the Indian musical tradition, rāgas are associated with different times of the day, or with seasons.<br/><br/> Rāginī (Devanagari: रागिनी) is a term for the 'feminine' counterpart or 'wife' to a rāga. The rāga-rāgini scheme dates from about the 14th century and aligns 6 'male' rāgas with 6 'wives'.
In Thailand, white elephants (chang phueak) are sacred and a symbol of royal power; all those discovered are presented to the king (usually this is ceremonial — they are not taken into captivity) and the more white elephants the king has, the greater his standing. The current monarch (2011), King Bhumibol Adulyadej, owns 10 — considered a sign of great attainment and prestige.<br/><br/> A white elephant in Thailand is not necessarily albino, although it must have pale skin. Candidate animals are assessed according to a series of physical and behavioural criteria (including eye colour, the shape of the tail and ears, and intelligence). Those that pass the tests are then assigned to one of four categories, and are offered to the king, though the lower grades are sometimes refused.<br/><br/> In the past, lower grade white elephants were given as gifts to the king's friends and allies. The animals needed a lot of care and, being sacred, could not be put to work, so were a great financial burden on the recipient - and only the monarch and the very rich could afford them.
In Thailand, white elephants (chang phueak) are sacred and a symbol of royal power; all those discovered are presented to the king (usually this is ceremonial — they are not taken into captivity) and the more white elephants the king has, the greater his standing. The current monarch (2011), King Bhumibol Adulyadej, owns ten — considered a sign of great attainment and prestige.<br/><br/> A white elephant in Thailand is not necessarily albino, although it must have pale skin. Candidate animals are assessed according to a series of physical and behavioural criteria (including eye colour, the shape of the tail and ears, and intelligence). Those that pass the tests are then assigned to one of four categories, and are offered to the king, though the lower grades are sometimes refused.<br/><br/> In the past, lower grade white elephants were given as gifts to the king's friends and allies. The animals needed a lot of care and, being sacred, could not be put to work, so were a great financial burden on the recipient - and only the monarch and the very rich could afford them.
Chiang Mai's 'Albino Elephant Monument', more commonly rendered in English as 'White Elephant Monument', is also known as Khuang Chang Phuak or 'White Elephant Terrace'. Khuang Chang Puak dates back to the time of King Saen Muang Ma, the 10th ruler of the Mangrai Dynasty (1385-1401).<br/><br/> King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city') in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom. Chiang Mai sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand.
In Thailand, white elephants (chang phueak) are sacred and a symbol of royal power; all those discovered are presented to the king (usually this is ceremonial — they are not taken into captivity) and the more white elephants the king has, the greater his standing. The current monarch (2011), King Bhumibol Adulyadej, owns ten — considered a sign of great attainment and prestige.<br/><br/> A white elephant in Thailand is not necessarily albino, although it must have pale skin. Candidate animals are assessed according to a series of physical and behavioural criteria (including eye colour, the shape of the tail and ears, and intelligence). Those that pass the tests are then assigned to one of four categories, and are offered to the king, though the lower grades are sometimes refused.<br/><br/> In the past, lower grade white elephants were given as gifts to the king's friends and allies. The animals needed a lot of care and, being sacred, could not be put to work, so were a great financial burden on the recipient - and only the monarch and the very rich could afford them.
The old silversmiths’ quarter centred on Baan Wua Lai (Spotted Cow Village) stretches along both sides of Wua Lai Road, to the south of Chiang Mai's old city. This long-established, prosperous community of artisans maintains a tradition that stretches back more than two centuries, to the time of Chao Kawila’s re-establishment of Chiang Mai in the years after 1797.<br/><br/> Silversmiths have long been valued and held in high esteem by Southeast Asian royal courts from Burma to Java, and in times past the Lan Na Kingdom was no exception.