2 weeks Ago By Lekha Shankar
Not many Indian tourists are aware that Thailand boasts of one of the largest open-air museums in the world. It lies just an hour away from the capital city of Bangkok in the neighbouring province of Samutprakan. That’s easily reachable by car or the sky train.
The 200-acre museum, called Muean Boran or Ancient City, comprises 116 monuments. The layout of the museum is based on the map of Thailand, and its four sections correspond with the four regions of Thailand, viz., northern, southern, northeastern, and central Thailand.
During the three hours I spent there, I felt I had traversed the whole county. I walked through gorgeous temples, palaces, pagodas; encountered ancient markets, salas, bridges, many of which were built from original wooden planks that had survived through centuries. There was a stunning range of Buddha statues from varied periods, including the Dvaravati, Khmer, Lanna, Ayutthaya and Thonburi,Rattanakosin.
The ancient city has numerous relics representing 4,000 years of history. We saw everything from the Grand Palace and Giant Swing in Bangkok to the main chedi in Sukhothai, the seven-tiered pagoda in Chiangmai, temples in Ayutthaya, Khmer structures in Pimai, fields of Lopburi, National Park of Khao Yai. There were also the Preah Vihar temple of Cambodia, and the Borobudur temple of Indonesia.
A total treat for lovers of history, indeed! In fact, many of the Thai visitors wore their traditional costumes during the tour. These costumes can be hired for foreign visitors. I loved the scenic Sumeru Mountain, the grand Ramayana Garden with the many images of Rama, Sita and other characters, and the Chinese Garden where the Bodhisattva section has gorgeous images of Avalokeswara and the Chinese Goddess of Guan Yin.
Many of the monuments were life-size replicas of the original. I was dazzled by the gigantic image of the churning of the ocean episode from Hindu mythology. Apart from the images and the monuments, there were lush gardens, fountains and foliage, which transported one to another world, and added up to more glorious photo opportunities The Ancient City took more than a decade to be developed and was the brainchild of Lek Viriyaphant, a visionary who believed that “art and culture are national treasures that need to be preserved for all generations”.
Originally hailing from China, he traced the evolution of Buddhism in the region. He traced how the Chinese goddess, Guanyin (Avalokiteshvara), developed from the old Mahayana form of Buddhism as well as Hindu mythology. The museum was first opened to Queen Elizabeth in 1973.
Viriyaphant kept expanding the museum until his death in 2000, and it is now managed by his family. The Ancient City is a must-see which can easily be reached from Bangkok by car or by the sky train which one needs to alight from at Kheha stop. From the Kheha stop, there are buses every hour to the monument.
One can also take one’s car inside the museum, but they must be parked at designated spots. Most of the sights are best seen on foot. One can also rent electric bicycles or golf buggies and travel around on one’s own with a map.
There is a hop-on-hop-off tram service, too. A trip to the Ancient City must be combined with another trip, the one to the Erawan Museum . ERAWAN MUSEUM The Erawan Museum is about 15 minutes away from the Ancient City by taxi.
It is also connected by the sky train (at Chang Erawan stop). If one is overawed by the Ancient City, one is equally whelmed by this unique museum, also created by Lek Viriyaphant. The most striking feature of this museum is a gigantic, three-headed elephant, 29 metres high, 39 metres broad, standing on a 15-metre-high pedestal, and weighing 250 tonnes.
It’s considered the largest in the world. The making of it took many years and involved the unique copper craftsmanship of Thailand. This is no ordinary elephant, but the sacred elephant of the lord Indra, and symbolises strength, wisdom, prosperity.
It is positioned standing on a globe and protecting the world below. That’s why the museum is considered a sacred shrine, and many people make offerings and prayers here. The inside of the museum in on three levels.
The basement contains the various antiques and artefacts from the huge collection of the owner, including gorgeous ceramic vases of the Ming and Qing dynasties, as also paintings and portraits of Indian King Asoka, who helped to spread Buddhism in the region. The next floor features the stunning statue of Guanyin, the Chinese goddess with a thousand arms, who was originally known as Avalokiteshwara. But what is most interesting on this floor are texts and pictures of various religions, including the 10 avatars of Vishnu, Jataka tales, and also histories, mythologies and ecclesiastical objects pertaining to the Christian and Chinese faiths.
And as one climbs up the winding stairway, one sees the walls painted with images of the cosmos. It’s almost like one is ascending to heaven. Indeed, the stairway represents climbing Mount Meru to the heavens, and the top floor represents the Travatimsa Heaven, which is located on top of Mount Meru in Buddhist cosmology.
There are gorgeous images of Buddha from different eras, in this room – from Lopburi, Ayutthaya , Lanna and Rattanakosin . Apart from the ornately carved stairways and the paintings on the walls, there is a stunning, round, stained-glass roof-top. It is definitely a transcendental experience.
Outside the museum, the lush gardens have many images of giant elephants, as also a Trimurthi shrine. Lek Viriyaphant built one more gigantic monument, the Sanctuary of Truth, near the popular beach-town of Pattaya. This outstanding monument is the largest wooden castle in the world, and is an amazing artistic, cultural, and religious spectacle.
For Indian tourists, the large and exquisite statues of Ganesh, Shiva and Vishnu, not to forget the four-headed Brahma, would be well worth a visit. “Only the philosophy of art has nourished the human mind,” said Lek Viriyaphant, who created these three astounding monuments. “ Sustainable cultural development” is how he described his life-long endeavour to create, sustain, and display the Thai arts, crafts, culture of the past, in these one-of-a-kind monuments.
For timings and entry fee, check the websites: www.muangboranmuseum.com www.
erawanmuseum.com ..
