M.L. Pattaratorn Chirapravati
Asian Studies Program, California State University, Sacramento, USA
From around the seventh century, images of Maitreya Buddha (Pali: Metteyya) became increasingly popular in the Central region of Thailand, especially at Si Thep in Phetchabun province. By the eighth century, two types of Maitreya images, Buddha and bodhisattva, were produced in different scales (e.g., large relief, small images, and votive tablets) and made of various types of materials (e.g., bronze, stone, gold plaque, and terracotta). The first part of this paper investigates the textual sources of the Dvaravati imagery of the seventh to eighth centuries, and the second identifies early representations of Maitreya that have been discovered from Klang Nai and Khao Thamorat at Si Thep.
(Presented in the International Conference – Buddhist Narrative in Asia and Beyond, 9-11 August 2010, Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University with support from The Thailand Research Fund (TRF), in co-operation with Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Institute of Asian Studies, The Confucius Institute, Chulalongkorn University and l’École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO))