Paper short abstract:

This paper explores variability in the portrayals of the sea goddess Manimekhala in Thai visual and literary narratives of the Mahajanaka Jataka.

Paper long abstract:

Portrayals of the sea goddess Manimekhala are widespread in Thai temple murals. The thosachat, or last ten jatakas, is a popular subject for mural paintings, and the scene from the Mahajanaka Jataka in which Manimekhala rescues the bodhisattva from shipwreck is one of the most dramatic and easily recognized encounters from the story. The standard pattern of these visual representations shows the goddess actively catching or carrying the passive-looking bodhisattva, an image difficult to reconcile with the understanding that Mahajanaka exemplifies the virtue of viriya, or manly effort. This paper will examine the way the visual narratives from the mural paintings tell a somewhat different version of the story than the literary texts, one that gives greater prominence to the scene of rescue but raises new questions about the reliability and role of the goddess. It will explore the broader associations around Manimekhala supplied by popular mythology and demonstrate the underlying instability of her gender construction: does she correspond more closely to mistress, mother, or nun? Like the inconstant waters over which she presides, we will see how Manimekhala's role fluctuates between different expressions of the feminine.

Paper short abstract:

Prajñāpāramitā, the goddess of supreme wisdom, figures prominently in the Cambodian Buddhist pantheon. This paper intends to look at her icons in India and at the change and development in the representations the icon underwent once admitted into the Cambodian religious and political context.

Paper long abstract:

Approaching the iconography and iconology of Prajñāpāramitā in Cambodia

Prajñāpāramitā, the goddess of supreme wisdom and personification of the Prajñāpāramitā-literature, is the sole goddess to figure prominently in the Cambodian Buddhist pantheon. She appears towards the end of the 10th century in a two- and four-armed form, on her own, or in connection with the nāga-enthroned Buddha, Avalokiteśvara and/or Vajrapāṇi. She displays one, four or five heads.

In the 12th century she reappears in a variety of forms, most prominently in a triad with the Buddha and Avalokiteśvara, but also for the first time in a tantric variation with 11 heads and 22 arms (Ekadaśamuka-Prajñāpāramitā) - holding a variety of attributes. She is represented sitting as well as standing.

This paper intends, first, to throw some light on the origin and presence of the Prajñāpāramitā icon in India; and second, to look at the development and change in representations and figurations the icon underwent once admitted into the Cambodian religious and political context. The latter will be accomplished through re-examining her presence in the Mahāyāna Buddhist inscriptions and by reviewing the material corpus of her representation.

While there has been some secondary literature dealing with Prajñāpāramitā in the Cambodian context, there has been little if any secondary literature focussing solely on the iconography and iconology of the goddess in Cambodia.

Paper short abstract:

This paper celebrates a recently extinct craft—that of weaving long texts. It flourished in Myanmar from the 18th Century, but is now virtually extinct. The vast majority of these texts were woven by women.

Paper long abstract:

This paper celebrates a recently extinct craft—that of weaving long texts. It flourished in Myanmar from the 18th Century, but is now virtually extinct. The vast majority of these texts were woven by women. Many of these weaves are dated, and some are signed by the weaver. Some even add verses in praise of their art. The woven text is interspersed with a variety of little images, of Buddhist significance—but the image of the Buddha himself never appears. Prominent among these is the Earth Goddess Vasundhara (Burmese Waythondayi). The donors of the manuscript who commissioned the weaving of the sazigyo did so to earn merit by their donation, but the weaver also earned merit.

Paper short abstract:

A Lanna story of the origin of the 'Emerald Buddha' of Lampang highlights issues around the role of women in the life of Buddhist monasteries and in monastic depictions of history. Ultimately, it draws attention to the Buddha image as being both the Buddha and an object crafted out of materials.

Paper long abstract:

The Emerald Buddha image, enshrined in Bangkok, is renowned as Thailand's palladium. However, there is another 'Emerald Buddha,' in Lampang, northern Thailand, which some assert is the original Emerald Buddha and the Bangkok image a copy. While the Bangkok statue is said to have been created by Nāgasena, the monk who famously parried Milinda's questions in ancient India, the Lampang statue originated locally. According to monastic manuscripts, a laywoman named Suchada (Pali: Sujātā) found a beautiful melon which she donated to a monk. Inside the melon was a large emerald. The god Indra carved the emerald into a Buddha statue. Crowds streamed to venerate it. However, events turned badly, and Suchada was wrongfully executed. Suchada has been honored with an early-19th-century monastery named for her and two contemporary statues erected at Wat Phra Kaeo Don Tao. She is an unusual example of a Thai laywoman who has become an object of monastic veneration. Her story provides an interesting comparison to other monastic manuscripts which recount idealized lineages of sponsors of powerful statues. Suchada's story suggests the effects of gender values in that idealization. It also raises questions about the parameters of the roles of laywomen, who have been key supporters of monastic life even as women have often been seen as obstacles to monastic development. The story also draws attention to the Buddha image as being both the Buddha and an object crafted out of physical materials by human agency.

Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the unique bronze images of female Buddhist monastics (bhikkhunis) and Mahaprajapati in the congregational hall of the Thepthidaram temple. The 52 images reflect the importance of women in monastic literature and the increasing role of female practitioners in Bangkok in 1830s.

Paper long abstract:

King Rama III (King Nangklow; r. 1824-1851) was great patron of Buddhism. Temples built during his reign are distinctive not only because they were built in a hybrid style that combines Thai and Chinese architectural elements, but also because they are adorned with images and murals with subjects that had not been popular in any other earlier period. In the 1830s, King Rama III built two temples that were dedicated to two female royal family members: one for his favorite daughter, HRH Princess Wirat, and another for his favorite niece, HRH Princess Sommanat Wattanawodi. The two temples (Wats Thepthidaram and Ratchanadha were built side-by-side on Mahachai Road in Bangkok.

This paper focuses on the unique bronze images of female Buddhist monastics (bhikkhunis) and Queen Mahaprajapati Gotami, the first bhikkhuni who was the Buddha's aunt and step-mother, in the congregational hall of the Thepthidaram temple. The fifty-two bhikkhuni images reflect the importance of women in Buddhist monastic literature as well as the increasing role of female Buddhist practitioners in Bangkok in 1830s.