SECTION 3: INSPIRE THAI HISTORY, RELIGION, ARTS & CRAFTS National Museum Volunteers 25 DVĀRAVATĪ DVĀRAVATĪ , BY WESLEY CLARKE An early historic cultural tradition in the regions of central, western, and northeastern Thailand labeled “Dvāravatī” has been recognized and discussed for over 130 years, but Dvāravatī remains incompletely understood in many of its aspects. Even the general social organization of this cultural entity remains uncertain: it has been variously described as a single large kingdom, an alliance of regional kingdoms or chiefdoms, the cultural tradition of a single ethnic group (the Mon), or a set of cultural and artistic practices shared across the early historic landscape by a variety of ethnic and social groups. The time period of Dvāravatī’s appearance, development, and decline also continues to be studied and debated. Some scholars limit the Dvāravatī era to the period when a distinctive sculptural style was present, typically cited as the 7th through 11th centuries CE, while a limited number of scientifically calculated dates suggest that the rise of Dvāravatī social organization began several centuries earlier, before the sculptural style appeared. The currently incomplete understanding of Dvāravatī culture will only be improved by additional archaeological field investigations with dated excavated contexts, as well as further evaluation of existing site data and the limited written sources. The discovery of Dvāravatī “Dvāravatī” is a Sanskrit term originating on the Indian sub-continent which can be translated as “which has gates,” a likely reference to the walled and gated urban centers that appeared during this time period. The Hindu epic Mahabharata mentions a fortified capital by this name on the eastern coast of India, and it is uncertain whether use of the term in Southeast Asia is a deliberate reference to this mythic story, or a descriptive term for the local walled settlements. Reports in the 7th century CE by Chinese pilgrims travelling to Buddhist centers in South Asia, and in Chinese records of diplomatic visits from Southeast Asia, describe a political entity in central Thailand named “To-lo-po-ti” or “Tu-ho-lo-po-ti,” terms which scholars believe are Chinese transliterations of the word Dvāravatī. Silver coins or medallions found in ritual contexts at several walled centers bear the Sanskrit inscription “śrīdvāravatīśvarapun.ya,” which has been translated as “meritorious act of the King of Dvāravatī.” The South Asian script used for these inscriptions appears to date from the 5th to 8th centuries CE, and the distribution of these numismatic imprints may reflect the presence of a large kingdom in the Chao Phraya river valley of central Thailand during that period. Dvāravatī is an important period of cultural development, marking significant changes in religious, social, and political ideas and practices. These included 10 National Museum Volunteers DVĀRAVATĪ the previously mentioned urbanization, intensified management of agricultural commodities and water resources, the introduction of Buddhist and Hindu religious practices, configuration of a new art style, and construction of monumental architecture. An earlier conceptualization of this process was termed “Indianization” by scholars, reflecting the view that South Asian sources transferred advanced cultural practices from an Indian civilization to less advanced populations in Southeast Asia. It is now generally recognized, however, that Southeast Asia had its own long traditions of social development, with new ideas from other regions being adapted by Southeast Asians to their particular needs and preferences. It also appears to be the case that ideas from Southeast Asia flowed outward to influence other cultural regions. All of these new social forms and practices appear to have developed in a broad arena of interaction surrounding the Bay of Bengal and its adjacent trade zones. Large walled settlements An important new development in the Dvāravatī period was the rise of large walled (and often moated) population centers, reflecting fundamental changes in the organization of society. While details on the internal layout of these urban settlements are not well documented at present, it is established that day-to-day living activities and religious facilities were present both inside and outside the walled areas. It may be, then, that the walls were less for defense and more for the delineation of new socio-political entities on the landscape, with the moats facilitating the management of water for irrigation and flood control. Smaller settlements surrounding the urban centers are even less well documented, but it is clear that there was a range of settlement sizes and functions. Preliminary studies indicate that the intensification of agricultural production would have been necessary to feed the urban populations, and hamlets and villages in a surrounding territory would have been organized to produce agricultural surpluses. This placed a high value on the management of arable land, labor, and the storage and distribution of subsistence commodities, stimulating new forms of social organization that supported task specialization. Ritual structures and sculpture The initial descriptions of Dvāravatī material culture focused on the monumental art and architecture found at the population centers. Ritual structures built in the first millennium CE included what have been identified as Buddhist stupas (reliquary or commemorative mound- or tower-shaped structures), viharas (assembly halls), and ubosots (halls for monastic ordinations or other rituals); shrines appearing to have contained Hindu images have also been uncovered. Objects expressing National Museum Volunteers 11 DVĀRAVATĪ religious and social principles new to the region included large and small sculptures of the Buddha or Hindu deities, and large spoked “dharmacakra” wheels—the Buddhist Wheel of Law—outstanding examples of which are present in the National Museum exhibits (Figure 2.1). The large wheels are an especially distinctive aspect of the Dvāravatī sculptural oeuvre, symbolizing the Buddha’s first sermon during which he taught five ascetics the path to enlightenment, and in so doing set the Wheel of Law in motion. These dharmacakra were carved in the round and it appears that some of them were placed atop a pillar (stambha) that rested in a base (socle). The wheels have been found at many Dvāravatī sites in the Figure 2.1. Dharmacakra. (Photograph by Wesley Clarke, courtesy of the National Museum, Bangkok) central Chao Phraya valley, with at least eighteen discovered in and around Nakhon Pathom, perhaps indicating this locality’s preeminence during the Dvāravatī period as a religious and political center. In Phetchaburi Province, at the north end of peninsular Thailand, workshops have been discovered where dharmacakra and other ritual and domestic lithic objects were produced, documenting the trans-regional nature of Dvāravatī social networks. Dvāravatī figural sculpture displays a combination of stylistic elements not previously seen in Asia: a flat, round face, protruding eyes, wide nose, thick lips, large hair curls, and “swallow wing” joined arched eyebrows (Figure 2.2). The overall arrangement of the figure is also Figure 2.2. Facial features of a large Buddha figure in distinctive, including solid, almost stocky limestone, exhibiting characteristics typical of the Dvāravatī body forms; symmetrical frontal imagery, sculptural style. (Photograph by Wesley Clarke, courtesy of the National Museum, Bangkok) with robes usually adjusted to unnatural but symmetrical outlines; expression of the 12 National Museum Volunteers DVĀRAVATĪ same mudra ritual gesture by both hands, forearms extending perpendicular to the torso; and an asexual body form. Some Dvāravatī Buddha figures are also presented in a seated posture with legs pendant, possibly representing iconographic influences from China. This art style was identified as a key marker of Dvāravatī culture, and has been used to trace the geographical distribution of Dvāravatī across the Southeast Asian landscape. It remains uncertain, however, whether the distribution of this art style represents the operation of a single expansive Dvāravatī political hegemony, or was an artistic tradition shared by a variety of ethnic or socio-political groups. It is important to note that, while this generalized Dvāravatī art style is traceable across a broad area, distinctive regional variations of this style were also present, probably reflecting varying ethnic and social traditions. Non-Dvāravatī-style objects were also sometimes present. This multiplicity of styles and forms reflects a complex mix of social traditions, connections, and influences. Other artifacts Other artifact types associated with Dvāravatī occupations include locally made earthenware, especially spouted vessels and carinated pots, as well as pottery exhibiting cordmarking, incised “line-and-wave,” or stamped decorative surface treatments; iron implements, bronze adornments, glass and semiprecious stone beads, gold jewelry, “saddle shaped” grinding platforms and roller pestles, and pottery stoves and lamps. An especially famous Dvāravatī object on display at the National Museum is a metal lamp found at the site of Phong Tuek in western Thailand (Figure 2.3), one of the first Dvāravatī settlements explored archaeologically by scholars. Figure 2.3. Mediterranean lamp found at the Dvāravatī settlement of Phong Tuek, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand. The lamp’s discovery by village residents (Photograph by Wesley Clarke, courtesy of the National Museum, Bangkok.) in 1927, along with small Buddha figures and other ritual objects, created a sensation reaching all the way to Bangkok, prompting French scholar George Coedès, then General Secretary of the Royal Institute of Siam, to organize limited excavations at the site. The large, wellpreserved lamp, composed of bronze or brass, exhibits Mediterranean forms and National Museum Volunteers 13 DVĀRAVATĪ decoration that Coedès identified as a “Greco-Roman” type of the 1st to 2nd centuries CE, further declaring that this was the first classical Western object to have been found in Asia. More recent analysis by scholars, however, has shifted the cultural attribution of the lamp to Byzantine cultural sources of the 5th to 6th centuries CE. Even so, the lamp is an important indicator of early long-distance trade connections that reached all the way to the Mediterranean by both overland and sea-borne routes. This expansive trade network provided conduits not just to new markets and commodities, but to new social ideas and practices. Aspects of Dvāravatī ritual art indicate practices that may be unique to this cultural tradition, perhaps drawing on obscure texts or applying unusual interpretations. Buddha figures often display the same mudra gesture on both hands, usually vitarka mudra, representing the discussion and transmission of the Buddhist teaching. This hand gesture had limited use in South Asia but is more common in Central and East Asia, perhaps indicating those regions as important sources for Dvāravatī religious ideas. The so-called “Banaspati” plaques found at Dvāravatī sites present another unusual iconographic arrangement (Figure 2.4), the basic elements including a central Buddha flanked by acolytes, either bodhisattvas or Indra and Brahma, riding atop a fabulous creature. This creature is said to combine elements from the vehicles for Siva (a cow or bull), Visnu (a bird or garuda), and Brahma (a goose or swan), or in rare instances the figure of the Hindu sun-god Surya is used. The textual source for the Banaspati imagery is unknown and interpretations of its meaning are speculative. It has been suggested that the elevated Buddha relates to the legend of the great teacher’s Figure 2.4. One variation of the unusual “Banaspati” descent from Tāvatimsa . heaven; or that the plaque iconography. (Photograph by Wesley Clarke, courtesy of the National Museum, Bangkok) positioning of the Buddha above the Hindu deities indicates the superiority of the Buddhist teachings; or that these plaques are a depiction of the Buddha giving a “sky-lecture,” as described in many sacred texts. The combination of Buddhist and Hindu imagery in the “Banaspati” plaques parallels the occurrence of sculpted images from both religious traditions at many Dvāravatī sites. Evidence for both Shaivite and Vaishnavite practices include stone shivalingas, yonī platforms, and sculpted figures of Siva and Visnu. Indeed, the 14 National Museum Volunteers DVĀRAVATĪ commixing of Buddhist, Hindu, and animist practices occurs relatively consistently across the Dvāravatī landscape, presenting another intriguing phenomenon within this cultural tradition. The Dvāravatī exhibits at the National Museum present superlative examples of Dvāravatī material culture, illustrating the technical skills, distinctive iconography, and stylistic innovations of this early historic period. These objects provide a connection to the people and practices of the Dvāravatī cultural tradition, and act as a catalyst for continued exploration and study of this important historical phenomenon. References: Barram, Andrew, and Glover, Ian. "Re-thinking Dvāravatī." In From Homo erectus to the Living Traditions. Choice of Papers from the 11th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, ed. J. Pautreau, A. Coupey, V. Zeitoun and E. Rambault, 175-182. Bougon, European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists, 2008. Clarke, Wesley. "New Observations at P'ong Tuk and Ongoing Issues with the Conceptualization of Dvāravatī." In Advancing Southeast Asian Archaeology 2013: Selected Papers from the First SEAMEO SPAFA International Conference on Southeast Asian Archaeology, ed. N. H. Tan (Bangkok: SEAMEO SPAFA, 2015. Phasook Indrawooth. Dvaravati: A Critical Study Based on Archaeological Evidence. Bangkok: Aksonsmai, 1999. Piriya Krairiksh. The Roots of Thai Art. Translated by N. Chakrabongse. Bangkok: River Books, 2012. National Museum Volunteers 15