| THE RELICS OF THE BUDDHA |
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| On 30 August 1956 the stone container was opened in presence of authorities. The container was filled with a small stupa wrapped in a lead sheet, gold ornaments, a large quantity of bronze images, pewter votive tablets and other valuables. The stupa consisted in fact of six small stupas, one enclosing the other. The outer stupa was in lead; the second was in silver, the third was in nag (an amalgam of copper also with a golden tip but had a gold ringlet fastening its body on to a gold-plated pedestal; the sixth stupa was formed by three layers of crystal placed on top of each other. The lowest layer made of dark garnet was topped with emeralds and rubies. The three layers were fastened with gold bands studded with tiny emerald drops. The base of this crystal pagoda was inlaid with six sapphires of different colors. Inside the crystal stupa was a tiny golden casket with a lid which contained the Buddha relics. The crystalline relics are about one-third of the size of a grain of rice and were kept in sandalwood oil. The stone pillar and the seven-layered urn with the Buddha relics are preserved and displayed at the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum in Ayutthaya. [1] References: [1] A critical analysis of heritage interpretation and the development of a guidebook for non-Thai cultural tourists at Ayutthaya World Heritage site - By Aphivan Saipradist - Silpakorn University (2005). |
| Text & photographs by Tricky Vandenberg - October 2009 |
(The red wood stupa, black wood stupa and nag stupa)
| (The crystal stupa) |
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| (The tiny golden casket with lid) |
| (The golden casket) |