RITUAL BATH OF BUDDHA’S FOOTPRINT, SARABURI PROVINCE: BELIEFS CONTRIBUTED TO THE STATUS OF CONSECRATED WATER SOURCE IN CORONATION

Abstract

The article aims to study beliefs over the use of blessed water from the ritual bath of Buddha's Footprint in Saraburi Province for the Coronations. The study reveals that adoption of water from the ritual bath was at the second coronation of King Rama VI in 1911 and there was an identical procedure in the celebration of the 5th birthday circle in 1987. Two factors that affect the use of water from the ritual bath has emerged; 1) Belief and legend mentioned about “Pran Boon” who used water from the Buddha's Footprint to bathe his body until his wound was completely recovered while an injured deer that drank the water also recuperated from a bowshot together with a ceremonial belief which refers the water as the most consecrated as bathing of Lord Buddha’s feet. Moreover, evidence of manipulating the ritual bath existed in Ayutthaya Kingdom   according to Guy Tachard’s record around 1685. 2) Being an important relic of the ancient kingdom to the modern state —the Buddha’s Footprint has been admired from Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin Sovereigns in accordance with royal visits to worshipping the footprint. When a nation-state has been established, sacred objects from an ancient state had been drawn for auspiciousness as an important stratagem for centralising an executive power.