Even by Isaan standards, Yasothon is a rarely visited province of Thailand. In all honesty, it is not one of the Northeast’s most engaging provinces, but that isn’t to say that there is nothing to see here. From my perspective, the provinces greatest assets are its Lao-style chedis and its Buddhist manuscript libraries. At Wat Maha That, located in the provincial capital, we find both in a single temple complex. That makes it arguably the single best wat to see while in Yasothon province.
The chedi (or thaat) has an elegant, tapered design typical of Laotian chedis
One of the two main sights at the wat is its tall, slender chedi. In Laos and Isaan, they are often known as thaat (or sometimes that), using a regional dialect of standard Thai. This is one of the finest examples of a Lao-style chedi I have seen in Northeastern Thailand, offering a dramatically elegant shape which seems to shoot up like a rocket. There are many delightful features such as an elaborate base, standing Buddhas in niches in the middle section and a gold umbrella atop its finial. We also liked the red and gold ironwork fence which surrounds the structure. It dates from the 18th century, a period when this part of Isaan was ruled from Laos not Bangkok.
The Rattanakosin-style Buddhist library is one of Yasothon’s treasures
The second important monument at Wat Maha That is a beautiful Buddhist manuscript library (ho trai) set on pillars above a pond. This is one of the finest examples of a manuscript library in Isaan (Northeastern Thailand) and it is now protected as a national monument. Unusually for an older building from Isaan, it has a Rattanakosin design, with red, green and gold roof tiles and a soaring ridge and rich use of roof ornamentation. It also has naga-shaped eave brackets which are attractive and well-proportioned. Another intriguing feature is a kala (demon) head above the entrance (see picture below) and the veranda which runs around the edge of the library, letting in just a little light. The library is usually left open for curious visitors.
A colourful kala (demon) head above the entrance of the library
One of the unique historical legacies of Chaiyaphum province, a remote province in Thailand’s Northeastern region (Isaan), is two Dvaravati-era sites which date back to the ninth century. They have never been comprehensively explored by archaeologists, but if they were, there would doubtless be much to discover: a small museum in a local school contains examples of ancient bricks and pottery. Yet until such excavations are made, the best evidence of the historical importance of the village is its collection of ninth century bai sema, Buddhist boundary markers which were once used to delineate the sacred place of places of worship. No less than 29 stone boundary markers have been found in the small village of Ban Kut Ngong, making it one of the biggest treasure troves of such antiquities in the region.
This suggests that the village was once home to a sizeable community of Buddhist monks and perhaps even a workshop of skilled artisans who could make bai sema of high artistic quality. Ten of the Ban Kut Ngong bai sema feature jataka scenes which tell the life of the Buddha, and they are rendered with considerable artistic skill. Though they are not as crisp as the masterly specimens in the Khon Kaen National Museum, they predate the examples in that collection by a few centuries, making them amongst the old examples of narrative art surviving from Thailand’s Northeast. Some of the other boundary markers feature simpler motifs such as the stupa-khumba design, which is more typically associated with sites in the Chi River system.
As at Ban Khon Sawan, a similar site from Chaiyaphum province, the boundary markers are no longer placed in situ. They have been rounded up and put together under a protective shelter in the grounds of a local wat. While something has been lost in terms of historical authenticity, keeping them all in one place makes it easier to protect the stones from art thieves or merely weathering from the elements. In recent years chicken-wire has been fitted to the underside of the ceiling as well. This would stop birds nesting under the shelter and defecating on the ancient stones. It is encouraging to see that the unusual heritage of the village has been protected in this way.
A time-worn image of a seated Buddha
One of several beautiful images from the site is the image featured to the left. Though time-worn, the image of the Buddha is still very beautiful, showing an elegant head-dress,the broad nose and thick lips of the Mon people, slender, delicate limbs and a lower body folded in the lotus position, with the feet seemingly crossed Sri-Lanka style. A figure to the right is shown in a attitude of devotion. The comparatively small size of this figure emphasizes the preternatural qualities of the Buddha, who assumes a larger-than-life presence.
A standing Buddha and the banyan tree
Perhaps the greatest masterpiece of the Ban Kut Ngong boundary markers is the one featured to the left. It shows a beautifully rendered standing Buddha with a graceful form adorned with a loincloth, a towering head-dress showing the Buddha’s worldly status and a slight, almost feminine torso. To the left of the image is a highly stylized image of a tree, presumably the banyan tree beneath which the Buddha attained enlightenment. Once more, there is a second humanoid figure on the stone, and again its comparatively diminutive size appears to emphasize the particular status of the Buddha. This is the crispest of the Ban Kut Ngong bai sema and the most interesting scene to the casual visitor.
A third memorable image from Ban Kut Ngong shows another standing Buddha, but this one without the banyan tree. This Buddha is demonstrating the vitarka mudra hand position, which looks somewhat like the Western ‘okay’ hand gesture. The significance of this hand gesture is that it is the delivering a sermon posture, which would be far from obvious unless it was explained to you. This beautiful carving has its eyes averted downwards and the facial features are again typically Mon and rendered with sensitivity and finesse. The Buddha has wearing a cloth about the waist which resembles a delicately draped Khmer sampot (sarung). Behind the Buddha’s head is what appears to be an ornamental wooden pavilion with a pair of lanterns hanging down from it. It is yet another example of the little-known artistic legacy of this small Thai village.
Of all Thailand’s major temple complexes, the last one we got around to visiting was Prasat Phanom Rung Historical Park, a Hindu temple complex set atop an extinct volcano in the southern part of Buriram Province. This delay was not due to any doubts about the temple itself- all of the guidebooks assured us that Phanom Rung was one of Thailand’s premier historical attractions. It was because of the isolation of the site which made visiting it by public transport such a chore. However, in September 2016 it finally made it onto our itinerary. We had decided to see it after a trip to Khao Yai National Park and the Reclining Buddha of Sung Noen, using the growing town of Nang Rong as our base. The steady improvement of tourist facilities in the town had now made it a superior option to the comparatively distant town of Buriram. The trip from Nakhon Ratchasima (formerly Khorat) took us a couple of hours. From the bus terminal in Nang Rong, we were able to negotiate day-long car hire from an retired man who scouted business there. He agreed to a price of 800 baht for the day, including long stops at Phanom Rung and Muang Tam.
We first went to Phanom Rung Puri Hotel, which was reputed to be the best in Nang Rong, with tourist-quality rooms, a swimming pool, a restaurant, karaoke rooms and Khmer-style bas on the walls of the hotel lobby; we had decided to give ourselves a decent night’s rest after roughing it in Khao Yao National Park. We checked in, put our bags in the room and then set off towards Prasat Phanom Rung. In very little time, we were out of Nang Rong and on our across the rice-growing plains of Southern Isaan. About twenty minutes from town, we turned off the main road and proceeded along a quiet country road. Eventually we started ascending the lower slopes of the extinct volcano on which Phanom Rung temple was located. They were were covered by scrubby undergrowth. There was no traffic on the road at all, which led us to discuss how difficult it would have been to get out there by public transport.
However, when we arrived at the car park, we saw that there were a fair number of visitors who had made it on their own steam. Increasingly, as Thailand is becoming more of a middle-income country, there is less public transport on the country’s back-roads, and it is more challenging to get around without private transportation. From there, we went to the ticket office, bought joint tickets for Phanom Rung and Muang Tam for 150 baht each, and then set off to tour the temple. By perusing some tourist literature, we were reminded of the basic facts about the site. Prasat Phanom Ring Historical Park was often referred to as the greatest Khmer temple in Thailand, with only only Prasat Hin Phimai being in the same league. Both of these sites were connected to the core of the Angkorean Empire by a royal road, also known as the Dharmasala Route, which had featured an incredible 102 small stone ‘hospitals’ along its course. This meant that Phanom Rung was well-connected with the capital of Angkor Thom.
Yet this part of the empire may have maintained a degree of independence, perhaps functioning as a vassal state of Angkor. This status may have owed something to its pedigree as an important early kingdom, perhaps one with links to the Khmer royal family. Certain inscriptions from the area around Phimai and Phanom Rung refer to a kingdom called Mahidharapura. Mahidharapura was probably an important pre-Angkorean kingdom which was eventually incorporated into Angkor. The magnificence of Phimai and Phanom Rung suggest that the area maintained immense ceremonial significance through the centuries of Angkorean overlordship, with magnificent monuments being built as a recognition of its significance.
The surviving remains at Phanom Rung span at least three hundred years, from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries. However, it has been argued that the site may have had religious significance as far back as the Chenla era, a time which stretches back to the middle of the first middle of the first millennium BC. Like Wat Phu Champasak in Southern Laos, it appears to have been one of the key sites of the region, one which successive rulers and even kingdoms continued to venerate. Most of what remains today is a Khmer-style sanctuary in pink sandstone, dedicated to the powerful Hindu god, Shiva. However, there is one extent tower which was probably the product of the former Mahidharapura, and one depicting a scene of war elephants may belong to an earlier epoch again. However, it is the Angkorean-era monuments which make it so stunning, and like all great Angkorean temples, what they provide is sublime drama.
The first stage of the Phanom Rung experience is the processional walkway but before following this path, it is worth diverting off the main pathway to examine a remarkable building called The Hall of the White Elephant, which is located off to the right among the frangipanis. Known in Thai as Phlab Phla, it is thought that this building was a changing pavilion for the royal family before they participated in ceremonial rites. Made of laterite, the walls of this temple have a rust-red colour, suggesting the stone contains a high iron content. The window frames are made of sandstone and have bars across them which are made in the style of turned wood. This evocative ruin is thought to date back to the 12th century and is an interesting hint of royal involvement in religious ceremonies.
Beyond the Hall of the White Elephant, the visitor follows the processional walkway towards the main sanctuary. Constructed of pitted laterite, the walkway is comparatively plain but with extensive gardens on either side, it is here the parkland appeal of the temple complex is most obviously felt. The walkway is also notable for a series of seventy sandstone posts which are positioned along the edge of the walkway. These elegantly tapered posts delineate the boundary of the path and guide the visitor onwards towards the main sanctuary. Shaped like lingas, they are a reminder that one is approaching a Shivaite temple, the phallic linga being the symbol of the war god, Shiva. Those who have visited Wat Phu Champasak in Laos will be reminded of a similar walkway there.
The first naga walkway, with the top of the main sanctuary visible
At the end of the processional walkway is the first of three naga bridges. These bridges symbolize the transition between the temporal and immortal realms. Once you have reached this point, you are about to ascend a staircase to the sanctuary of Shiva. Fittingly, the bridge features five-headed nagas of exquisite quality. These nagas rise at the corners of the bridge, their bodies forming a sort of railing for it. They are in an excellent state of preservation, with incredible detail on their bodies and the whole of the hood. In recent years it has been argued that the iconography of the five-headed naga may have entered Cambodia via the kingdom of Dvaravati, with the area around Phanom Rung serving as a gateway. Whatever the truth of this theory, the naga bridges are a reminder of the importance of the five-headed naga in the history of the region.
The lintels and gopuras of Phanom Rung are exquisitely carved
Having climbed the main staircase, you come at a stone terrace which marks the entrance to the temple proper. The terrace has some small lawns, some shade trees and four small pools. This beautiful terrace is backed by the outer walls of the sanctuary, which are covered in a sensuous mass of carvings, including some superb lintels. Immediately in front of the entrance is another smaller naga walkway. This marks the point of your immediate entrance into the realm of Shiva. However, before proceeding it is worth taking some time to peruse the galleries of Khmer religious art here. Of especial note is a scene of a multi-armed Shiva doing a cosmic dance of creation on the eastern entrance. This is a wonderfully vivid rendering of this scene. Below it is one of the most famous lintels in all of Thailand: the Phra Narai Lintel. This remarkable lintel depicts a sensuously rendered Reclining Buddha asleep atop a long naga figure. A former victim of an art theft, it has was finally returned from the United States in 1988.
From here you passage through into the inner courtyard, where the main temple to Shiva is located. The pink-hued temple is arguably the finest Khmer temple extent within Thailand it is certainly worth viewing from multiple angles. The gopuras, antefixes, lintels and colonettes ensure that every facade of the detail is a wealth of sculptural detail. Even look at the bases of the colonettes and you will see small carvings of bearded holy men set in decorative niches, each of which is surrounded by a flaming nimbus. No effort has been speared in making the temple an overwhelming spectacle. Of particular interest to us was the dwarapala door guardian outside one of the entrances. We were to meet another similar statue at Khon Kaen National Museum a few days later. Once past the guardians you will find that the interior of the temple enshrines a Shiva linga and a beautiful statue of Nandi, his vehicle.
Prasat Phanom Rung is dedicated to Shiva, the Hindu God of war, death and birth
Before descending from the sanctuary, it also worth seeking out Prang Noi, a smaller sandstone sanctuary on the grounds. Though comparatively plain and unadorned, it predates the main tower by a couple of hundred years, suggesting that this may have been part of a pre-Angkorean sanctuary which was associated with a smaller kingdom, later reduced to vassalage to Angkor. Apart from Prang Noi, the site also has a small stone library, where sacred palm leaf manuscripts may once have been housed. This library dates to the thirteenth-century, indicating that the site was still occupied after the peak of Angkor. It is another part of the complex history of this incomparably rich and fascinating temple site.
The town of Roi Et has never attracted more than the odd traveller passing through but for the art history fan or Mon-Dvaravati period relic-hunter, it has one treasure. On the grounds of a wat called Wat Neua there is a most unusual chedi, which is one of the few surviving Mon-Dvaravati-era structures in the whole country. Its value is only increased by the fact that it quite distinct from the other extant Mon monuments in Thailand. Whereas there are at least eight Dvaravati stupas, this is the only surviving Dvaravati chedi; its closest cousins are a number of Haripunchai chedis from North Thailand.
Unlike the Mon-Dvaravati ruins of Nakhon Pathom, Sri Thep or the Mon-Haripunchai ruins of the North of Thailand, this chedi has a square base but a bell shape overall. This cornered bell shape is unique to this one location. The stucco has peeled almost entirely off, exposing the underlying brickwork, and it has now been topped with a gilded finial in the form of a ceremonial umbrella. This wat is also a good place to see a sema, one of the most important Dvaravati art-forms from the Khorat Plateau. This sema is also a relic of an early Mon polity in the region. But this raises the question which Mon polity built this monument. Situated far in Thailand’s arid Northeast, the chedi at Wat Neua is far from the more famous Mon-Dvaravati centres of the Chao Phraya Basin. Do we know of any Mon kingdoms which flourished in this part of the country?
The bell-shaped chedi of Roi Et
Roi Et province is part of the Chi River basin. The neighbouring province of Yasothon to the south is also on the Chi River system and both provinces have produced similar archaeological finds in the form of bai semas with a stupa-khumba design depicted on them. This homogenity of design suggests that they were all the product of a similar cultural tradition or polity. It appears that some sort of Mon kingdom thrived on the lower Chi River floodplain towards the end of the first millennium. This kingdom has yielded relatively scant traces of itself but there is one inscription from Yasothon province which refers to a kingdom called Sankhapura. Perhaps the bell-shaped chedi of Roi Et is the largest surviving monument from this elusive kingdom.
A third memorable image from Ban Kut Ngong shows another standing Buddha, but this one without the banyan tree. This Buddha is demonstrating the vitarka mudra hand position, which looks somewhat like the Western ‘okay’ hand gesture. The significance of this hand gesture is that it is the delivering a sermon posture, which would be far from obvious unless it was explained to you. This beautiful carving has its eyes averted downwards and the facial features are again typically Mon and rendered with sensitivity and finesse. The Buddha has wearing a cloth about the waist which resembles a delicately draped Khmer sampot (sarung). Behind the Buddha’s head is what appears to be an ornamental wooden pavilion with a pair of lanterns hanging down from it. It is yet another example of the little-known artistic legacy of this small Thai village.
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