Peter Skilling, M. L. Pattaratorn Chirapravati, Pierre Pichard, Prapod Assavavirulhakarn, Santi Pakdeekham
ISBN: 9749863453
RIVER BOOKS
2008 - Hardcover - 296 Seiten
390 colour illustrations and 30 plans/maps

Wat Si Chum - Art, Architecture and Inscriptions.

Wat Si Chum is unique among Sukhothai temples. Inside, lining the ceiling of a dark and narrow staircase leading to the open roof, are 86 inscribed stone reliefs depicting jatakas, former lives of Gotama Buddha. Their unique character and arrangement have puzzled generations of scholars.
Past Lives of the Buddha presents the latest evidence and propose new interpretations. The book offers the first-ever English translation of the inscriptions, photographs of the reliefs supplemented by 19th century jataka paintings from Wat Khrua Wan, Bangkok, essays on all aspects of the temple, as well as a discussion of the significance of jatakas in international Buddhist literature, art and ideology.

Peter Skilling, a Sanskrit and Pali scholar, is Maître de Conferences for the Ecole française d’Extrême Orient, Bangkok and has been a visiting professor at Harvard and Oxford. Pattaratorn Chirapravati is Assistant Professor of Asian Art and Director of the Asian Studies Program at California State University, USA. Pierre Pichard was an architect with the Ecole française d’Extrême Orient for 30 years involved in conservation throughout Southeast Asia. Prapod Assavavirulhakarn is Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Eastern Languages at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. Santi Pakdeekham is a lecturer in the Department of Thai and Oriental Languages at Srinakarinvirot University. All five have published widely.