An
Illustrated History of the Emerald Buddha
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Discovery
in Chiang Rai
According to a reliable chronicle,
lightning struck open this old chedi (left) in the present Wat Phra Kaew
in Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand in 1434 AD and revealed a stucco Buddha
image. The image was brought into the abbot's residence. One day, the abbot
noticed that the stucco on the nose of the Buddha image had flaked off
to reveal a green colour inside. He removed all the stucco and found a
jade Buddha image inside, which was the Emerald Buddha. People then flocked
to worship this precious Buddha image.
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Enshrinement
in Phra Dhatu Chedi Luang
At that time the town of
Chiang Rai was under the rule of the king of Chiang Mai. The king of Chiang
Mai, King Sam Fang Khaen, sent an elephant to bring the jade Buddha image
to Chiang Mai, but each time the elephant arrived at the junction with
the road to the city of Lampang, it ran to that town. The king sent
an elephant out three times and each time the same incident occurred, so
he thought that the spirits guarding the Emerald Buddha wanted to stay
in Lampang. Thus the Emerald Buddha remained in Wat Phra Kaeo Don Tao in
Lampang for 32 years, until 1468 AD, King Tiloka of Chiang Mai had the
Emerald Buddha brought to Chiang Mai and installed the image in the eastern
niche of a large stupa called Phra Dhatu Chedi Luang (right).
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The Emerald
Buddha in Laos
In 1551, the king of Chiang
Mai died without an heir to the throne. One of his daughters was married
to the king of Laos. She had one son named Prince Chaichettha. The ministers
of Chiang Mai agreed on inviting the prince, who was fifteen, to become
king and he accepted. However, when his father, the king of Laos, passed
away. King Chaichettha wanted to go back to his own country, so in 1552,
he returned to Luang Prabang, the then capital of Laos, taking the Emerald
Buddha with him, and promised the ministers of Chiang Mai to come back.
However, he never returned nor did he send back the Emerald Buddha, so
the image remained at Luang Prabang for twelve years. In 1564, King Chaichettha
could not resist the Burmese army of King Burannaung, thus he moved his
capital down to Vientiane and the Emerald Buddha resided in the Wat Phra
Kaeo (left) there for 214 years.
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Transfer
from Thonburi to Bangkok
In 1778, during the Thonburi
period, King Rama I of Bangkok captured Vientiane and brought the
Emerald Buddha back to Thailand and enshrined it temporarily in Wat Arun
(right) in Thonburi, the then capital of Thailand. With the establishment
of Bangkok as the capital, the Emerald Buddha became the palladium of Thailand
and has been ever since. The image was moved from Wat Arun to Wat Phra
Si Rattana Sadsadaram in Bangkok on 22 March, 1784.
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