Freer Gallery of Art, The Smithsonian Institution and Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan
出版地
Michigan, US [密西根州, 美國]
資料類型
期刊論文=Journal Article
使用語言
英文=English
附註項
Rebecca S. Hall, PhD (UCLA), 2008, is visiting assistant professor of Asian art at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has authored articles on Northern Thai Buddhist banners. Her research explores the relationship between art and Buddhist practice and examines visual expressions of belief related to Buddhist cosmology.
摘要
The final rite in Southeast Asian Buddhist funerals, cremation sends the deceased to the next birth cycle. It is also a reminder of the ephemeral nature of life. Goals of heavenly rebirth are reflected in cremation structures and their visual references to heaven and Mount Meru. In the case of high-ranking monks in Northern Thailand, cremation edifices borrow from royal funerary imagery and depict the mythical nok hatsadiling (elephant-headed bird) with a prasat (palace) on its back. The structure itself and the overall event hold great meaning for everyone involved. As the prasat is burned with the body in the funeral pyre, the animal is believed to safely guide the spirit to heaven. This article examines the prasat–nok hatsadiling structure as part of a larger visual language of transition, heaven, and religious power.
目次
Abstract 181 Bringing the Nok Hatsadiling to Life in a Cremation Structure 182 Cremation Structures in Buddhist Southeast Asia 184 Heaven on Earth: Cosmology of Death 188 Nok Hatsadiling of the Himaphan: Narratives and Meaning 190 Prasat–Nok Hatsadiling in Northern Thai Monks’ Funerals 192 The Continuing Presence of Prasat–Nok Hatsadiling Structures in Northern Thailand 195 Conclusion 195 Notes 197
