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Book: Buddhist Path, Buddhist Teachings

Chapter: 11. Calligraphic Magic: Abhidhamma Inscriptions from Sukhodaya

DOI: 10.1558/equinox.33392

Blurb:

The article presents five fifteenth- to sixteenth-century Pali inscriptions
from Sukhodaya, Thailand. Three of them are engraved in the Khom alphabet
on large square stone slabs, with considerable attention to format; they
seem to be unique in Thai epigraphy. Two of these carry extracts from the
Abhidhamma; the third gives a syllabary followed by the recollection formulas
of the Three Gems. The other two epigraphs are written not on stone slabs
but are inscribed on small gold leaves; they contain the heart formulas of the
books of the Tipiṭaka and the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṃgha.
The exact find-spots and functions of the slabs and gold leaves are not known.
I suggest that they are the products of widespread and enduring Buddhist
cultures of inscription, installation, and consecration, as well as of customs of
condensation and abbreviation that have have been intrinsic to Thai liturgical
and manuscript practices up to the present.

Chapter Contributors

  • Peter Skilling ([email protected] - pskilling) 'Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient and Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok'