The Cult Worship of King Chulalongkorn of Siam. How an Ancient King Became a God in a Modern Thai Society

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The Cult Worship of King Chulalongkorn of Siam. How an Ancient King Became a God in a Modern Thai Society

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Bachelorarbeit aus dem Jahr 1996 im Fachbereich Südasienkunde, Südostasienkunde, Note: Distinction, Monash University Melbourne (Asian Studies), Veranstaltung: BA (Hons), Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: Whilst traveling in Thailand in November 1994, the author noticed the rise in popularity of photographs, paintings and statues of King Chulalongkorn in restaurants, banks and almost every small business property. Beneath these artifacts, he noticed offerings of various food stuffs that had been placed apparently for the late kings' consumption! At the same time, he noticed many Thais wearing amulets bearing the late King's image. Lastly, I discovered that, on Tuesday and Thursday nights, thousands of people were going to the King's Equestrian Statue at the Royal Plaza to worship the late King , believing that his virtue would help them achieve success in business. He was interested to find out the causes of this phenomenon, to discover what had occurred to initiate it and what it might reflect in Thai society. To this end, he spent time in Thailand, investigating the emergence of this new 'religion'.

The results have been summarized in this paper. He found that the subject covered a wide range of disciplines, including the life and achievements of the King himself; Popular Buddhism, encompassing Brahmanistic, Hindu and Animistic elements; the origin of Buddhist amulets and amulets; as well as other objects bearing the image of King Chulalongkorn. He has also analyzed the status of Buddhism in modern day Thailand, its relevance to the average Thai, the different forms of Buddhism and the convergence of Buddhism with consumerism apparent in the increase in marketing of Buddhist goods. He is particularly interested in the possibility of the changed status of Buddhism and how this may have provided the necessary conditions for the birth of the cult of Rama V.

All these areas are discussed in some detail to allow the reader to understand the environment in which the birth of the cult at the Equestrian Statue took place , the consequent growth under the auspices of a famous Thai movie Star and the background of amulet and magazine producers. Finally I have attempted to show what this cult worship of the late King may reflect in Thai society.