Bangkok National Museum

The Bangkok National Museum is the main museum of the “National Museums” in Thailand and also the largest museum in Southeast Asia. The museum is focused on Thai art and history. It is housed in the former palace of the vice-king or Front Palace.

The museum preserves and displays artifacts from Dvaravati and Srivijaya to Sukhothai and Ayutthaya period, the museum also displaying extensive collections of regional Asian Buddhist Arts.

Virtual Tour of the Bangkok National Museum

Mucalinda Sheltering Buddha
Ram Khamhaeng Inscription
Buddha Protected by Mucalinda
Neolithic Pottery from Ban Chiang

Highlights Tour of the Bangkok National Museum

Mucalinda Sheltering Buddha

The Mucalinda Sheltering Buddha statue tells the story of the Gautama Buddha, who, while meditating under the Bodhi Tree, had Mucalinda, the mighty King of Serpents, came from beneath the earth to protect him with his hood during an unusually massive storm.

When the great storm had cleared, the serpent king assumed his human form, bowed before the Buddha, and returned in joy to his palace.

This Mucalinda, carved in the 1240s at the historic Srivijayan center of Chaiya, echoes the earlier Srivijayan style from the early Mahayana Buddhist kingdom, which, covered much of the present-day peninsular consisting of Thailand, Java, Sumatra, and Malaya.

Ram Khamhaeng Inscription

The Ram Khamhaeng Inscription, also known as Sukhothai Inscription No. 1, is a stone stele bearing inscriptions that have been regarded as the earliest example of the Thai script.

The stele was discovered in 1833, and it was eventually deciphered and dated to 1292. The text describes the Sukhothai Kingdom during the time of King Ram Khamhaeng, to whom it is attributed.

The inscription had immense influence over the development of Thai historiography.

The stele is in the shape of a four-sided pillar, mostly square with a rounded pyramidal top. The upper section, which bears the inscriptions, is polished, and the lower part, which fitted into a base, remains rough.

Buddha Protected by Mucalinda

The “Buddha Protected by Mucalinda” statue tells the Gautama Buddha’s story, who was meditating under the Bodhi Tree, when Mucalinda, the mighty King of Serpents, came from beneath the earth to protect him with his hood during an unusually massive storm.

When the significant rain had cleared, the serpent king assumed his human form, bowed before the Buddha, and returned in joy to his palace.

This statue was created in the 13th century and was discovered in Lopburi at the Wat Na Phra Men, located 150 km north of Bangkok, in central Thailand.

This area was a province of Angkor during the 11th – 13th centuries and its art reflect Khmer as well as earlier Dvaravati influences.

Mucalinda is the name of a nāga, a snake-like being who protected the Gautama Buddha from the elements after his enlightenment, and it is a favorite theme in Khmer art.

Neolithic Pottery from Ban Chiang

This sizeable neolithic pot is an example of Ban Chiang red-on-buff ware, which was created freehand without the use of a pottery wheel.

This type of pottery discovered in burial sites, along with a variety of bronze and glass ornaments, including armbands, anklets, rings, and necklaces.

The tradition of Thai ceramics dates back to the third millennium BCE. The earliest trace of Thai ceramics ever recorded in Ban Chiang, which is in present-day Udon Thani Province, Thailand.

The ceramics discovered were earthenware, and the most common forms were cylinders and round vases. The early pots were undecorated, while the later ones were decorated with geometric patterns and swirling designs.