A must see while visiting Bangkok, the emerald Buddha has a colourful past and is remarkably well travelled for a statue …
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The diminutive Emerald Buddha, although only 45cms in height, is one of the most revered and famous religious statues in Asia. Legend has it that the idol is the palladium of Thailand, on which the safety of the country is believed to rest. The statue, actually made of Jadeite and not emerald, currently resides at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha or Wat Phra Kaew in the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
Incredibly precious and significant to the Thai people, the Emerald Buddha is adorned with garments of gold. The statue has 3 different sets of clothes which are changed by the King of Thailand each season (rainy season, summer and winter) in a ritual named ‘The Changing of the Robes’.
According to local lore the Emerald Buddha was created in India in 43BC near the present day city of Patna in Bihar, where it resided for 300 years. To save it from being destroyed in a civil war it was whisked away to Sri Lanka around the middle of the 3rd century AD. In 457 King Anuruth of Burma requested that the Buddha be sent to him to strengthen the cause of Buddhism in his country. The request was granted, but during the sea voyage the ship carrying the idol lost its way in a storm and ended up in Cambodia.
For nearly 1000 years the Emerald Buddha was hosted by the Khmers of Cambodia until Angkor was sacked by the Thais in 1434, whereupon the statue was taken to Ayutthaya in Thailand. Over the next two years a whirlwind tour of central Thailand, Laos and northern Thailand ensued, with the idol again coming to rest in Chiang Rai.
The jealous city ruler of Chiang Rai hid the statue from prying eyes and for a time it was believed lost. One stormy day, however, a bolt of lightning struck a pagoda in the city revealing something green buried within the stucco. On investigation this turned out to be the Emerald Buddha which was dug out from its hiding place to resume its travelling career.
The King of Chiang Mai, over lord of the north of Thailand, demanded the statue be brought to his capital from Chiang Rai however fate intervened again when the elephant carrying the Buddha insisted instead on heading towards Lampang. Interpreted as divine intervention the elephant was allowed to have its way and the statue resided in Lampang for around 30 years until it was finally brought to Chiang Mai where it was housed at Wat Chedi Luang.
When the Lannathai throne of northern Thailand became vacant in 1552, the Crown Prince of the kingdom of Lan Xang (current day Laos) was offered the job and moved to Chiang Mai. When his father died and he inherited the throne of Lan Xang he relocated to the traditional capital of Luang Prabang taking the Emerald Buddha with him. In 1564 he moved his capital to Vientiane and the Buddha was on the move yet again.
There it rested for around 200 years until invading Thais sacked Vientiane and spirited the Emerald Buddha away to Thonburi, and subsequently on to Bangkok where it has resided ever since. Part of any tour of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, our Journeys Within guides can bring the story of the emerald Buddha to life.