One of the lesser-sung treasures from the Khon Kaen National Museum is the carved stone known as the Kulavaka Jataka Boundary Marker. Like many of Thailand’s most remarkable bai sema (boundary markers), it came from Muang Fa Daet Sung Yang, an archaeological site in Kamalasai district of Kalasin province. The boundary marker is broken and incomplete, with only the top section remaining. However, despite its fragmentary state, it offers crisp and vivid stone carving. Whereas the carving on many of Isaan’s bai sema is now very time-worn, the scenes on the Kulavaka Jataka Boundary Marker are still distinct.
The boundary marker depicts a jataka scene, a scene from one of the lives of the Buddha. The scene on this stone has been identified as Jataka story #31, otherwise known as the Kulavaka Jataka. This story tells of several reincarnations of the life of a woman called Highborn. Its pedagogic value was to instruct the faithful in the notion of Buddhist merit, informing people that those who lacked good works in their current incarnation could expect to be reincarnated in a lower station- perhaps even as an animal- in the next life. In one of her incarnations, the ironically named Highborn was one of four women in a household. The other three, known as Goodness, Thoughtful, Joy, all performed acts of merit, but Highborn ignored their example. As a result, in her next life she was reborn as a wild bird.
The Kulavaka Jataka at the Khon Kaen National Museum shows the considerable compositional skills of the stone carvers of Muang Fa Daet Sung Yang. In the centre of the slab is a figure which Murphy identifies as Sakka (another name for the god Indra). Presumably he was seated atop his vehicle, the multi-headed elephant Airavata. This section of the scene is lost but there is a tusked elephant to the left of the god, which helps to support this identification. Sakka has a conical head-dress, broad lips and heavy, metal ear-rings, all of which are common features of Mon art. There is a halo around the head of Sakka and a tree behind him, which strongly suggests the iconography of Mon-Dvaravati banyan trees. To the left of Indra are three women, who Murphy suggests are Goodness, Thoughful and Joy, now the handmaidens of the god. They have elaborate head-dresses and heavy jewelry. One of the woman has a bird in her hand, which represents Highborn in her lowly new incarnation. A particularly compelling example of Dvaravati jataka art, it is worthy of close attention even its incomplete state.
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