The Sāvatthī Miracles on Painted Wooden Panels in Siam
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Abstract
The Great and Twin Miracles of Sāvatthī are among the Buddha’s most renowned miraculous acts, providing key episodes to his biography. Widely transmitted in multilingual textual traditions, these narratives became illustrations across South and Southeast Asian Buddhism. This article examines seven painted wooden panels from Buddhist sites in central Siam dated to the late 19th to early 20th centuries, analyzing how artists translated these stories into visual form. Scenes of the Twin Miracle and related episodes generally reveal reliance on Pali sources while incorporating contemporary social imagery, demonstrating a localized reinterpretation of canonical narratives within Siamese artistic practice.
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