Relationship between Artistic Motif of PrivateTemples and Communities in Pom Prap Sattru Phai District

Abstract

The purpose of this research article aimed to study the artistic motif of temples influenced by the beliefs of the communities in Pom Prap Sattru Phai district, Bangkok. The study was conducted in 2 aspects, namely, the element of artistic motif in the temples including the history of the temples and in terms of communities, there were the studies of the relationship between cultures and beliefs of the communities and artistic motif styles within the temples. This was a qualitative research by gathering information from documents consisting of historical documents, books and academic works together with field surveys in real areas, then linking the data to analyze the beliefs of the communities that correlate with artistic motif styles in the temples with the target group being Private Temples In Pom Prap Sattru Phai district consisting of 4 temples, namely Wat Prapiren, Wat Sitaram, Wat Khanikaphon and Wat Sunthon Thammathan. All of them were temples belonging to the Mahanikaya Sangha with a long history and had always been the center of the surrounding villagers. It was found that most of the artistic motif within the temple had been continuously improved but also displayed artistic motif that reflected the beliefs of the communities around the temples in addition to Maha Nikaya Buddhism. It was divided into artistic motif that were created in response to religious faith, such as Mahayana Buddhism, Brahmanism, Hinduism. And other artistic motif that were created to symbolize or commemorate important people of the temples that later became the sacred object of the temples. The artistic motif from the beliefs of these communities made Private Temples interesting and different from Royal Temples because these sacred things can be increased according to the faith of the villagers and had become another tool that attracted more people to the temples.