Forms and functions of votive tablets in pre-modern Thailand

Abstract

Votive tablets, known also as sealings and referred to as phra phim in Thai, are the precursors of the modern Thai amulet tradition. These objects historically form a distinct category of Buddhist iconography by these two special qualities which set them apart—namely the practice of producing multiple copies from a single original type, and the intention to use one or more of these copies in some such way for making merit by being buried in stupas or placed within caves. Their use aside from merit-making activities is evident by way of their distribution over a wide geographical area, transmitting religious thought and practice throughout the relatively de-centralized political and cultural landscape of pre-modern Southeast Asia. This paper is based on an examination of a selection of votive tablets in an art historical context, followed by a study using inscriptional evidence combined with the surviving archaeological record to determine what functions these objects may have served. Hardly touched upon by most works which deal in any way with the subject of votive tablets by placing them merely in an art historical context, here we have also attempted to derive some reasonable conclusions about pre-modern Thailand in so far as what votive tablets and their connections to various social and religious conditions may imply. Among the many factors to consider are the degree of distribution from the location of their production, the relationship of styles depicted or religious symbolism on votive tablets with larger Buddhist statuary and the connection of votive tablets to actual individuals and corresponding social categories. The belief in their magical properties is especially interesting, in that by being buried away they came to be regarded as vehicles for the emission and transference of sacred power. Linking them to stupa symbolism, associations become apparent between votive tablets and the ancient cult of relics, of changing notions of what is meant by dhamma as natural law aside from the historic person who preached it to the world, and ultimately to sources for much of the votive tablet tradition which stem from Mahāyāna beliefs. In what manner they may have been valued aside from their connection to stupas will also be explored.