via The Nation, 15 July 2022: Over 100 stone statues were discovered near Bangkok’s Reclining Buddha Temple and are on display. They take the form of various people dressed in western and Thai clothing, and were likely used as ballasts for merchant ships.
Tourists headed to the Grand Palace during the long weekend to admire the 100 or so stone statues unearthed recently from under the complex’s walls.
The statues were found by the Royal Household Bureau while it was performing road maintenance recently. Upon discovering the statues, the bureau contacted the Fine Arts Department to dig them up, restore them and put them on display in the courtyard of the Emerald Buddha Temple (Wat Phra Kaew).
Images of the statues were shared on the “Bangkok I Love You” Facebook page on Thursday, with the caption saying: “These statues served as ballast for junks used in trading with China in the early Rattanakosin era.
Source: Bangkokians rush to Grand Palace to admire stone ballast figures
See also:
- Temple yields trove of buried treasure | Bangkok Post, 16 July 2022
- Century-old stone sculptures displayed at Emerald Buddha Temple, Bangkok | Pattaya Mail, 17 July 2022
- Grand Palace welcomes new attractions, stirs interests in history | Thai PBS, 18 July 2022
- Thailand’s Fine Arts Dept. clarifies era of ancient sculptures unearthed at Grand Palace | Pattaya Mail, 19 July 2022
