baan burih muang (บานบุรีม่วง) See ban buri muang. Thai. Buddhist monk's alms bowl. They have been in use for over 2,500 years and are still so today, for early morning bintabaat or alms-gathering by monks. The process of alms bowl making is time-consuming allowing only a couple of bowls a day to be completed. It is assembled of eight pieces of metal, representing the eight spokes of the dhammachakka, the Buddhist Wheel of Law, and the Eightfold Path. A first metal strip is beaten into a circular form to make the rim. Then three pieces are beaten to form a cross-like convex framework, with four triangular ...for more order our CDrom...
Another name for narok. Chinese for 'eight trigrams'. 1. Thai. Currency unit of Thailand, made up of one hundred satang.
The current main coins are those of 1
baht (fig.)
depicting
Wat Phra Kaew
(fig.),
2 baht (fig.)
depicting
2. Thai. A unit of weight used by jewelers and apothecaries in Thailand, equal to 15 grams. 3. A line of a Thai verse. 4. Thai-Rajasap for 'foot', as in chalong phra baht. Also Phrabaht. Thai. The dried leaves of the nipa palm (fig.) are used for thatching, to roll cigarettes and as an ingredient in sweetmeats and alcohol.
Thai. 'Palm leaves'. Ancient palm leaf manuscripts carrying Buddhist scriptures. The palm leaves were first trimmed into long sheets and then engraved by scratching the text into the leaf with a needle, the ink being rubbed in afterwards. They are kept folded between two wooden covers decorated with gold leaf and measuring around forty by eight cms. Because of their ...for more order our CDrom...
bai raka (ใบระกา) Thai. The ornamental crest running along the ridge of the two sloping edges of a traditional gable roof, as seen on most Buddhist temples and palaces. On Buddhist temples it starts beneath the chofa (fig.) and at the lower end usually ends with an antefix (fig.) often in the form of a hang hongse (fig.), whereas in traditional houses it usually ends with a ngao (fig.). The bai raka also occurs in Thai palaces ...for more order our CDrom...
bai sema (ใบเสมา) 1. Thai. Stone boundary markers at the eight cardinal points around a bot. They demarcate the consecrated ground on which the bot is constructed. Bai sema may be placed singly or in pairs. If in pairs they may signify that the temple was of royal origin (fig.), or that it has undergone major renovation, or is built on the site of a former bot. The bai sema often have the shape of ...for more order our CDrom...
2. Thai. Battlements surrounding a city or temple. Also sema.
bai sri (บายศรี) Thai. An offering of cooked rice under a conical arrangement
of folded leaves and flowers, sometimes topped with a boiled egg like some kreuang bucha (fig.),
and used during weddings and other auspicious
ceremonies.
bai toey hom (ใบเตยหอม) Thai. The leaf of a pandanus. Thai. 'Blade of Jade'. Name for Thailand's tallest tower, generally known as the Baiyoke Sky Tower or Baiyoke Sky Hotel (fig.). As a hotel it also claims to be the highest in the world. The building stands in Bangkok and is 309 meters tall, and its piling runs 65 meters deep underground, about the height of a 22 storey building. It has a Sky Walk revolving roof deck on the 84th top floor offering a panorama of the city (fig.). There are altogether 2,060 steps from the bottom to the top, which take a healthy person about one hour to climb. Of course there are lifts as well and the outer one takes about one minute to the 77th floor observation deck. The area inside the building totals ...for more order our CDrom...
Temple dedicated to the god Shiva and built by king Yasovarman I at the beginning of the 10th century AD in the Khmer capital Angkor. The horse that the merchant Samhala rescued and that embodied one of the former incarnations of the Buddha. The older brother of Krishna and avatar of Vishnu. Bali (พาลี) Sanskrit-Thai. A king of the monkeys and a brother of the monkey king Sugriva who usurped his throne, in the epic Ramayana. In Thai rather pronounced as 'Phali'. Thai name for the island of Bali, Indonesia. Giant plant that grows up to 15 meters high, belonging to the family of grasses with the Latin name bambusa vulgaris. Its hollow stem is made up of jointed segments and its elongated leaves are of a glossy green to yellow colour. Its shoots (fig.) are edible and its flexible timber is an important building material, especially in rural areas and among the hill tribes. Bamboo grows rapidly and has a very slow putrefaction process what makes it a very appropriate construction material in a humid environment and climate. Its hollow stem is used amongst others used to make huts, rafts, pipes for water supply, fences, etc. By splitting the cylindrical trunk it can be unfolded and used as to make a floor, wall, mats, etc. Besides this the separate compartments are ...for more order our CDrom...
Name of a worm that inhabits the inside of bamboo stems. It is in fact the larva of a moth of the genus omphisa and has quite a long larval stage that lasts for ten months, whilst its adult life as a moth is only less than a week. Therefore most of its lifespan is spent as a larva, inside the bamboo stem. Once becoming a moth it will fly out and try to mate immediately. When this is fulfilled the female moth will lay its eggs on the skin of a bamboo shoot, and dies. Once those eggs have hatched the small grubs will dig into the bamboo shoot peel and start feeding on flakes of bamboo, without actually doing harm to their host. Some -mainly hill tribe- people of Northern Thailand eat the larvae which are collected by cutting down the bamboo. Subsequently they are fried crisp in oil and ...for more order our CDrom...
Indonesian-Thai for egg noodle, noodles made of wheat flour and eggs (in most cases). Bamih is a tick noodle of a yellowish colour and is sold only fresh (not dried). It can be eaten from a bowl with added broth or water (bamih nahm) or boiled -but dry- from a plate (bamih haeng), a form which may also be stir fried. It might be compared to the English chowmein what derives from chao mian, Chinese for fried flour. An asura that struggled with Krishna and is a son of Bali. Fruit of the banana plant which grows in clusters on an arched, overhanging inflorescence. Attached to this are several combs each numbering around a dozen bananas (fig.). In Thai called gluay, and in Indonesia pisang. There are several kinds, both large and small. A non-woody fruitbearing plant which soft herbaceous stem is made up of leaves that wrap round each other forming what appears to be a trunk and thus causing it often to be mistakenly referred to as a tree. The outer layers can be pealed from the stem which is frequently used as pig food by local farmers, as well as for making krathong. The plant grows up to several meters high and in Thailand there are many different kinds, either edible or inedible and growing both wild and on farms. It has typical large, flat leaves. The stalk grows upward through the apparent trunk and emerges from the top in the form of an arched overhanging inflorescence, on which the fruits ...for more order our CDrom...
ban buri muang (บานบุรีม่วง) Thai. Climber with the Latin name allamanda violacea. Its flowers are red to purple coloured calyx flowers. Also baan burih muang.
Thai. Non hereditary titles conferred by the sovereign mostly on government officers, such as Luang, Phra, Phrya and Chao Phrya. Thai. A small handheld double-sided drum used in brahmin rites. It is played by swaying so that the two weights that are tied to it with short strings hit both drum sides. The 'o' in bando is pronounced very short. Ban Chiang (บ้านเชียง) A prehistoric civilization in northeast Thailand known for its early bronze metallurgy and clay pottery. Archeological finds of elaborate pottery with distinctive burnt ochre, rust coloured swirl designs painted onto a buff background provide evidence that the indigenous people of Ban Chiang were capable of producing sophisticated works of art. Some of the bronze objects found are thought to date from ...for more order our CDrom...
Thai. 'Village'. Name used for riverside settlements. Found in place names of both large cities and small villages, like Bangkok and Banglamung. bangfai phayanaag (บั้งไฟพญานาค) Thai. 'Fireballs of the Naga'. Annual phenomenon on the Mekong river in Nong Khai, occurring at the end of ouk phansa, during the 15th full moon of the 11th lunar month. Soundless, smokeless and scentless fireballs shoot up from the deepest, Lao side of the river and float silently into the air, tens of meters and sometimes up to 300 meters high, finally evaporating in the inky blackness of the nightly sky. In some years there are only a few, but in 1999 nearly 3,500 fireballs were counted. Some claim them to be a natural phenomenon, others believe these fireballs are caused by a naga that, according to legend, lives in the river, others allege they are man-created. Up to date no verified scientific explanation has been found for this strange phenomenon. An ancient legend tells ...for more order our CDrom... 1. Thai-Western name for Krung Thep Maha Nakon, the contemporary capital of Thailand on the estuary of the Chao Phrya river. It covers an area of 1,568.7 km² and is bordered by the Gulf of Thailand and Samut Prakan in the South, Samut Sakon and Nonthaburi in the West, Pathum Thani in the North and Chachengsao in the East. The name is composed of the words bang (a riverside village) and makok (a kind of plum), and refers to a place north of today's centre where the capital was formerly founded. Bangkok (map) is divided into 5 amphur (districts) and 45 khet (zones), with Phra Nakhon at its centre. Although exact numbers are not available, it is sure that the metropolis (fig.) has at least ten million inhabitants; some sources even estimate ...for more order our CDrom...
2. An art style from the Rattanakosin period. Bangkok's elevated train system, usually referred to as BTS or Sky Train. It started its initial service in December 2000. The central terminal is at Siam Square from where lines go in four directions: there are eight stations to the North ending near Chatuchak (at the old Mo Chit bus station); six stations to the South with end station at the Thaksin Bridge; just one station at the National Stadium in the West; and nine stations to the East, stretching to On Nut (Sukhumvit soi 50). Later the southern line was expanded crossing the Chao Phraya River, on to Klong Sahn. It ...for more order our CDrom...
Bangkok's underground train system, also known as the MRT Chaleum Ratchamongkhon Line (map). Although to be officially opened on August 9, it commenced its service at the end of June 2004 with a trial period of more than a month. It runs from Hua Lamphong on Rama IV Road to Bang Seua near Chatuchak, a 20 kilometer route with a total of eighteen stations of which three connect onto the Bangkok Mass Transit System. It is run by the Bangkok Metro (Public) Company Limited (BMCL) and ...for more order our CDrom... Thai. Open air museum approximately 20 kms from Ayutthaya. It has a collection of palace buildings in various architectural styles (fig.). The name is derived from the fact that a former Ayutthaya king met (pa) a girl called 'In' at a riverside village (bang) in this area. Name of a camp in Singburi at the end of the Ayutthaya period where in 1767 a handful of heroic warriors (fig.) offered resistance for five months against a superior force of Burmese troops before being defeated, endorsing the Thai proverb: 'one is unable to extinguish a fire with little water'. The events that happened there have become a Thai classic, used as ...for more order our CDrom...
Thai. One of the royal regalia having the form of a fan. Thai. One of the royal regalia serving as a sunshade. 1. Thai. A yellow robe placed on the coffin by a Buddhist monk just before lighting the pyre. Also the term for performing such a rite. 2. Thai. A requiem chanted by Buddhist monks. Ban Jim Thompsan (บ้าน จิม ทอมป์สัน) Thai name for the Jim Thompson House. Thai. Museum consisting of an old house which was originally constructed in Chiang Mai over 150 years ago. It was donated to the Siam Society by its owners and then reconstructed in Bangkok. It displays items and utensils used by Thai farmers and fishermen. Its garden features ...for more order our CDrom... Museum founded under the auspices of the Fine Arts Department, the Treasury Department and the Thai Coin Museum. It is situated at the Bang Khun Phrom Royal Palace, within the compound of the Bank of Thailand. The museum features a large collection of coins, including ancient coins, photduang coins, Thai coins, etc. It also has a section on Thai banknotes and a room commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Bank of Thailand ...for more order our CDrom... Thai. 'Throne'. The state throne of a monarch.
Thai. 'Water house'. In the old days each house on the countryside had a small platform with a wooden-tiled roof built to house water containers for guests and passer-bys. Prior to building this water house the landlord conducted a ritual, calling upon the earth goddess. In the past there were usually three or five water containers in one water house, representing the three parts of the Tripitaka or the five buddhas, the past four and one future Maitreya buddha. Nowadays these water houses can still be seen but their roofs are more often ...for more order our CDrom...
Thai. 'To enter the monkhood'. Thai term similar to buat. See Bang Rajan. A Khmer temple with an important surrounding wall, a citadel. Sacred tropical tree with many aerial roots that develop into additional trunks (fig.). Its name often refers specifically to the species ficus bengalensis, though the term has been generalized to include all figs that share this unique life cycle and are known by the informal name of strangler fig (fig.). The name banyan comes from the Gujarati word bania, meaning 'trader' or 'merchant', and refers to the Indian merchants that would meet underneath this tree to conduct their business and sell their goods, as it provided a shaded place. In Hinduism it is the tree under which the god Vishnu was born, and in Buddhism it is known as the tree under which the Buddha stayed for seven days, after gaining Enlightenment. It is often confused with the bodhi tree, the ...for more order our CDrom...
Sanskrit. A rectangular well surrounded by steps. 1. An 11th century Khmer temple in Angkor. 2. The 11th century AD school of Khmer art from Angkor. Sanskrit. 'Twelve pillars'. A colonnade, portico or pavilion with columns. Man-made reservoir, basin or lake. Sculpture or cast in low relief, with the figures projecting slightly from the background.
Indonesian term for textiles painted with patterns in which the parts that need no colouring are being covered with wax. After the material is painted or dyed the layer of wax is removed through boiling. This process (fig.) may be repeated to obtain a multi-colour design.
Latin. Small tropical tree with the Thai name chongkho. See niche. 1. Khmer temple in Angkor Thom, constructed during the reign of king Jayavarman VII. The temple has 37 standing towers, most of them with four gigantic stone faces oriented to the cardinal points. It is believed from old maps and the outlay of the temple complex that there once used to be a total of 54 towers. It is disputed who the faces represent but they might be Lokesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion from Mahayana Buddhism, or perhaps a combination of Jayavarman VII and the Buddha. Bayon was the state-temple of Jayavarman VII and in many ways it represents the pinnacle of his massive building campaign. It somehow appears to be an architectural muddle. This is to some extent due to the fact that its gradual construction lasted for over a century. The temple features bas-reliefs on its exterior walls of the lower level and on the upper level where the stone faces are located. The ones ...for more order our CDrom...
2. Khmer school of art from the late 12th to the early 13th centuries AD. A window built in a niche. 'Buddhist Era'. The Theravada tradition claims that the Buddha's parinirvana occurred in the year 544 BC, marking the beginning of the Buddhist era in Burma, Sri Lanka and India. In Thailand, Laos and Cambodia the era begins on the first anniversary of that event, in 543 BC. In Thailand the use of the Buddhist Era was initiated by king Mongkutklao and ...for more order our CDrom... Sanskrit. A flat circular stone below the amalaka (fig.) in the finial of a temple in North Indian style. Cambodian. 'Pool'. See Wat Benjamabophit. benjarong (เบญจรงค์) Pali-Sanskrit-Thai. 'Five Colours'. A type of enameled porcelain composed of five colours against a sixth background colour, made in China for export to Thailand. It first appeared in the late Ayutthaya period and continued until the reign of king Rama V, when European designs replaced the benjarong in popularity. Later fewer colours were often used but the manufacturing process ...for more order our CDrom...
Sanskrit. Demon daughter of Phiphek, the chief astrologer of Longka, and Drichada, in the Thai Ramakien. She has learned magical powers from her father, and with these she changes herself, at Totsakan's urging, into Sida. According to the plot she has to play dead near the monkey camp of Phra Ram, hoping that the latter would cease his quest for his beloved and end the battle against the demons. Benyagai visits the captured Sida to ...for more order our CDrom...
The seed of the yellow orange coloured fruit (fig.) of the areca palm (fig.). The acidulous seed is cut into pieces and mixed with calcium carbonate, lime paste and spices, then wrapped in a leaf. The betel nut is slowly chewed on releasing a mild stimulant. The high fat seed contains alkaloids including areca and tannins including a red colour named catechu. The tanning extracts improve the formation of saliva and the alkaloids have a stimulating effect. Catechu colours the saliva red and the substances in the seed speed up the functions of the heart and improve digestion. Furthermore evaporation via the skin is increased, the gums and palate are strengthened and ...for more order our CDrom...
See areca palm. Small containers usually with some instruments used to hold and prepare the ingredients for betel nut chewing, often on a stem-plate or tray with pedestal. The production of betel sets was very popular during the reign of Rama IV and Rama V, mainly in the northeastern provinces of Thailand, Maha Sarakham and Khon Kaen. A betel set was often donated as an offering to monks (fig.) and it was traditional for a groom to give the parents of the bride a betel set. Sets donated by ...for more order our CDrom...
Sanskrit. Name under which the followers of Shivaism from the 5th century AD in Cambodia worshiped the Hindu god Shiva. The king himself would bring honor to special ceremonies in which a sacred mountain was climbed at night and a rite was performed in which, according to rumors of Chinese inhabitants at Angkor, human sacrifices were also involved. Sanskrit. Tantric goddess who is the consort of Bhairava.
Sanskrit. A rectangular pedestal for a deity, used in art. Sanskrit. 'Song of the divine Lord', revealed by Krishna in the Mahabharata. Hindu religious text prescribing a moral and ethical code of behavior emphasizing the merit of selfless service and devotion. The text is in the form ...for more order our CDrom... Sanskrit. 'Terrible'. The Hindu god Shiva in his more fearful appearance as a ten armed creature wearing a bone necklace, and a skull as a hair ornament. See also Mahakali (fig.). Sanskrit. 'Terror'. One of the evil forms of Devi, consort of Shiva. See also Mahakali (fig.). Sanskrit. 'Devotion'. A kind of worship in which one seeks unification with a personal god through intense devotion, thus hoping to free the soul. Sanskrit. The old and official name for India. Half-brother of Rama in the Indian epic Ramayana.
A popular Javanese appearance of Shiva as a fat ascetic with a beard and plaited hair. His attributes can be a jar, rosary, or a fly whisk. At some stage worshiped in Java as the rishi Agastya. Sanskrit. The female creator, one of the benevolent forms of Devi, consort to Shiva. Sanskrit. Term for a Buddhist monk who lives as an ascetic, without a dwelling place. An ordained Buddhist monk, a religious mendicant (fig.). Also bhiksu. See also bintabaat. Sanskrit. Feminine form of a bhikku, a Buddhist nun. In Thailand they are called naang chie and mae chie, but are lay persons without official status. Pali. Word derived from the Sanskrit word bhikku for a Buddhist monk who lives as an ascetic, without a dwelling place. Sanskrit. Important character and protagonist in the Indian epic the Mahabarata, famous for his strength and bravery. He belongs to the tribe of the Pandavas, involved in the battle of Kurukshetra. He is of enormous size and usually depicted carrying a club. He is the son of Vayu, the ...for more order our CDrom... Sanskrit. Son of Vayu, the Vedic god of wind or air. An important character in the Indian epic the Mahabarata, famous for his strength and bravery. He is of vast size and usually depicted carrying a club. He is also called Bhima. 1. Pali. 'Earth'. 2. Term that refers to a horizontal molding running down the length of a shikhara, the spire of a North Indian temple. Bhumidevi (ภูมิเทวิ) Pali-Thai. 'Goddess of the earth'. One of Vishnu's two consorts in Hindu mythology. In Buddhism the goddess of the earth is Mae Phra Thoranee. See Bhumipon Adunyadet. Bhumipon Adunyadet (ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช) Ninth king of the Chakri dynasty in Thailand with the crown title Rama IX. He was born in Massachusetts (USA) on Monday 5 December 1927, the second son to prince Mahidon Adundet, the Krom Luang of Songkhla Nakarin, and princess Sri Sangwahn. He is the longest reigning monarch, succeeding his older brother Ananda who was found shot dead in his bed. In 2006 the Thai nation celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of the king's accession to the throne. Though only formally crowned king after his marriage to Sirikit Kitthiyagon, on 5 May 1950. The anniversary of the king's coronation is celebrated throughout the kingdom on December 5 and is called Wan Chaleum Phra Chonma Phansa in Thai ...for more order our CDrom...
Pali. 'Touching the earth'. The most common mudra (fig.) in Thai Buddhist sculpture, meaning 'touching the earth' and also known as maravijaya, 'victory over Mara'. It symbolizes the episode in Buddha's legendary life story when he sat in meditation under a fig tree in Bodh Gaya and vowed not to move from the spot until he gained Enlightenment. Mara, the god of Desire and Death tried to interrupt by invoking a series of distractions and temptations, including young maidens. Reaching down to earth with his right hand (fig.), Buddha summoned the help of the earth goddess Mae Phra Thoranee, who rose to his aid, wringing water from her long hair and washing away Mara and his army. Buddha was hence saved from the temptation of desire whilst he called upon the earth to bear witness of his accumulated merits from former lives. Buddha images in Thailand usually make this mudra while seated in half lotus position (fig.), ...for more order our CDrom...
1. Thai. A cowrie shell, formerly used as money with an monetary unit equal to one-hundredth of an at. 2. Thai. A counter used in gambling. Compare with pih. A farang designation for Bangkok, after the 'Big Apple', New York. See also mango.
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