via Thai Enquirer, 11 June 2020: Apparently the first in a series of the History of Thailand in 100 Objects.
The swans are housed in a glass exhibit at the Kamphaengphet National Museum in Kamphaengphet Province. The two swans, Hong in Thai or Hongsa as they are known in Mon, are facing eastward, almost ready to take flight.
The Mon word Hongsa is derived from the Indian “Hamsa (हंस).” In Indian mythology, the Hamsa is a mythical bird of passage that represents the release of the soul from the cycle of life, a central goal in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.
The two sandstone birds in Kamphaengphet may be lost among the dozens of Buddhist and pre-historical exhibits at the museum, but they are as important as any other exhibit because of what they symbolize.
“The Swans are part of the Mon Buddhist identity both in Thailand and Myanmar,” said Phacha Phanomvan, a lecturer in Medieval History at Oxford University.
Source: The History of Thailand in 100 Objects: The Swans of Ayutthaya » Thai Enquirer
