Significance of hell scenes in mural paintings during the reign of King Rama I

Abstract

To study and analyze the form and content of King Rama I's Traiphum mural paintings with a focus on the scene of hell and examining various aspects of the significance of the scene of hell in these mural paintings in the reign of King Rama I. Based on textual analysis, using an art history methods, the thesis analyses the messages King Rama I intended to communicate to the audience and identify the significance of the scene of hell in conveying these messages in the social and political context. In comparison with mural paintings of Ayutthaya period, the form, content, and medium of mural paintings from nine temples in the early Rattanakosin period are examined with reference to the literary background that provides the subject matter, while at the same time they are also analysed with reference to the social and political background underlying the creation and presentation of the mural paintings by King Rama I. The research undertaken reveals that King Rama I extensively presented the Traiphum in the form of mural paintings, placing them on the wall behind the presiding Buddha image in the ubosot or one of the principal viharns. These murals focus on the three realms in the World of Desire placed in layers in a strict vertical order. In this representation, the scene of Hell is expanded and elaborated and is made in vivid contrast to the scene of heaven. Through their form, content and medium, the notion that heaven and hell are the places for reward and punishment for men and that they occupy a particular space within the distinctive hierarchical order of the universe is effectively conveyed to the people, particularly to the laity, in the most vivid and convincing way. The findings of this research suggest that theTraiphum mural paintings of King Rama I were intended to serve as an efficient means to convey the messages of moral enforcement and the justification of the kingship in the midst of social unrest and political instability