Phimai

Phimai (Thai: พิมาย) is a township (thesaban tambon) in the Nakhon Ratchasima Province in the northeast of Thailand. The town is located at 15°13′N 102°30′E. As of 2005 the town has a population of 9,768. The town is the administrative center of the Phimai district.

In the aftermath of the fall of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1767, attempts were made to set up five separate states, with Prince Teppipit, a son of king Boromakot, attempting to establish Phimai as one, holding sway over eastern provinces including Nakhon Ratchasima. The weakest of the five, Prince Teppipit was the first defeated and was executed in 1768. Phimai had also been an important town at the time of the Khmer. The temple Prasat Hin Phimai, located in the center of the town, was one of the major Khmer temples in ancient Thailand, connected with Angkor by an ancient Khmer Highway, and oriented so as to face Angkor as its cardinal direction. The site is now protected as the Phimai historical park.

Phimai has recently been the base of operations for the excavation of Ban Non Wat.

Phimai historical park Prasart Phi Mai
Phimai historical park Prasart Phi Mai Location in Thailand
Coordinates:	15°13′15″N 102°29′38″E
Name
Proper name:	Prasat Hin Phi Mai
Location
Country:	Thailand
Province:	Nakhon Ratchasima
Architecture and culture
Primary deity:	Shankar
Architectural styles:	Khmer architecture
History
Date built: (Current structure)	11th-12th Century CE

== Khmer influence ==

Because of its physical territory located deep into the north-eastern part of Thailand which was once a territory of Khmer or what is modern day Cambodia, Phimai’s Architecture and cultural decorations are heavily influenced by Khmer cultures. Art and architecture shown on the temple itself shows a great evident of ancient Khmer civilization in what is modern day Thailand. Similar in its look and design to Angkor, it also has the same function of worshiping the gods in the Hindu religion. See also Hinduism.

Despite the fact that Phimai has been built in a similar fashion to Angkor and other Khmer Buddhist temples, some religious structures located within Phimai’s walls are still being debated about its original religion. Evidence such as the sculpture of “the Wheel of Law” or the statue of Buddha that were built in Dvaravati style shows that Phimai was certainly an important Buddhist spiritual location. Though a large quantity of Buddhism has been shown in Phimai, evidence such as large pots that were embedded in some corners of the structure suggests that number of spiritual practices other than the ones that Buddhists do has been practiced in Phimai. In other words Phimai has always been an important religious landmark for Animists, Buddhists, and Hindu Cults.

There has not been much evidence of how Phimai and other evidence of Khmer civilizations in Thailand came about. But even though there has not been any concrete evidence that explains everything, there have been pieces of evidence that archeologists have spent times concluding the history of these Khmer art forms in Thailand. The earliest engraved record of the Khmer during the 6th century AD was found in the north east of Thailand such as in Surin where the Sanskrit inscription in the stone has also been found. There were statues and engraved images of Hindu gods such as the image of Shiva’s bull nandin. Later the king during that time, Mahendravarman, ordered his men to engraved the inscription away. In modern day’s issue, it has still been debating about the unsure territory that the evidence may have been vanished.

Phimai along with other Khmer-influenced temples in Thailand have been built mainly under the cause of the “Deveraja cult”, or in other words “King that resembles as god”. JayavarmanII was the most mentioned “devaraja”. Devaraja cult developed the belief of worshiping Shiva and the principle that the king during the certain reign was an avartar of the god Shiva. The kings under this principle will build temples to glorify the reign of himself along with the spread of Hinduism.

The 10th century was the time of the reign of king Rajendravarman II (944-968AD) which was also during the time that the Khmer control was increasingly leaping towards the North Eastern Thai territory. Consequently, temples with the Kleang and Baphuon styles were left as a heritage here in Thailand. These structures shared the same signature of having three brick towers on a single platform, for instance the Prasat Prang Ku in Sisaket province and Ban Phuluang in Surin province. Each individual buildings has its own special feature or function. For instance Prang Brahmadat was built of laterite blocks that form a square. Or Prang Hin Daeng which translate to “Red Stone Tower” which is also a square but was made of red sandstone. Or the main sanctuary built of white sandstone and has almost 32 meters in length. While the southern lintel has the statue of Buddha meditating with “seven hoods of naga Muchalinda”. Adjacent to the statue were a collection statues of evils and animals that was depicted from the Tantric Mahayana Buddhist scripture. Modern day Phimai has been considered a well known tourist attraction in Thailand especially for those tourist who are interested in history and archeology. Located in the middle of Phimai is a small gallery which forms a rectangle surround the courtyard which has been newly built for commercial purpose. Within the gallery there is a pre-Angkorean Buddhist inscription that tells the story of prince Siddhartha and his journey to being Buddha along with other classic Buddhist stories. Along with the prangs which symbolize that the area is a sacred area. Phimai has always been an important tourist attraction for Thailand.

Within Phimai’s wall

When the tourists enter the area of Phimai from the old town on the south, they will have to cross a river about one kilometers to the south and found an ancient laterite landing stage which acheologists believe that it used to be the bathing place for the heroine in local myths. And up in the north gate there the city main gate, AKA the “Pratu Chai”, which has recently been reconstruct by the Royal Fine Art Department. Its size is enormous; it is said that the size is big enough for a royal elephant to enter. The Royal Fine Art Department has also built an inner gallery which shows ancient Buddhist inscriptions and small sculptures as well as pieces of wrecked architecture. The rest of Phimai still remains the same only with a little restoration by the Royal Art Department.

Architecture Style

Having a lot in common with Angkor, Phimai shows a great example of classical Khmer architecture. Ancient Khmer architects were best known for their superior use of sandstone over the traditional bricks and laterite architectures. Sandstones are used on the outer layer where they are visible. And laterite on the other hand was used for the outer wall and other hidden parts. All the structures are building blocks of huge sandstone blocks. There are many lotus shaped roof which also represents Mount Meru(A holy mountain in Hinduism).

These Khmer temples, Phimai in this case were built to resemble the universe. The main building resembles the peak of the mountain that centers the universe. The surrounding walls resemble the water and encircling mountains. The Khmer didn’t develop the technique of true vaulting during their time. This results in that large areas could not be roofed over. They didn’t have the motivation to came up with how to develop the technique of true vaulting because the believers of the religion didn’t requirement this. For them, large open areas are fine. They instead developed the use multiple chapels.

Construction Materials

The Khmer learnt how to efficiently use bricks, sand stones, and laterite. They were the three main principle structural materials. They generally cut the lintel 45degrees triangular wedge.

External links

• Phimai travel guide from Wikitravel
• phimai