The Politics of Number : Collecting, List Making, Measuring and Cataloging of Buddha Images from the North of Bangkok in the Period of State Building

Abstract

This article is a historical narrative of the event where the royal court of King Rama I collected 1,248 images of the Buddha from the provincial towns of Sukhothai, Pijit, Sawankalok, Ayutthaya and Lopburi to be displayed in Wat Phrachetuphon (Wat Pho), Bangkok, in 1794. This case suggests that the royal court had a new methodology for arranging the Buddha images in the gallery in Wat Pho for political reasons. As a result of this study we can see that the collecting of Buddha images for Wat Pho was an important event in the building of Bangkok into the religious capital of Thailand during that time period. We can also see that King Rama I had established his own dynasty and claimed the throne by giving precedence to religious actions. Finally, we can see that the methodology of management, collecting and cataloging of Buddha images shows that the Royal elite of King Rama I had used their new methodology in state building.