Pilgrimage – Sukhothai Historical Park
Traditional Thai historians consider Sukhothai (which means “the dawn of happiness”) as the first capital city, its ruin is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site near the modern city of New Sukhothai.
Upon entering, you will notice a statue of King Ramkamhaeng, the third king of the Sukhothai empire, who ruled during the kingdom’s most prosperous period.
He created the Thai alphabet and introduced Theravada Buddhism as the official state religion. So you can imagine the huge reverence Thais bestow upon him.
We know this from King Mongkut (Rama IV), who found the first Stone Inscription in his archaeological expeditions and transcribed the history of the Sukhothai kingdom.
King Mongkut then incorporated Sukhothai into the Thailand’s historical identity as their starting point.
But modern Thai historians feel that older Thai kingdoms exist further back although they exist as small vassal states to surrounding empires.
The Sukhothai-style of architecture and sculpture is immediately distinct to me.
All the columns, the statues, the podium—their proportions have a slim elegance to them. There’s also minimal detailing between elements, such as where the columns meet the podium and so forth. Akin to a sort of slender Tuscan order.
Even the individual bricks are elongated and slender. Having said that, the vertical scale is still greatly emphasised, accentuated by a myriad of slim bandings at the extremities.
The statues also acquire a feminine poise from Sukhothai’s tendency towards leanness and tapered forms.
(That’s real gold, by the way)
