The carved wooden doors and window shutters on the ground floor of Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon stupa at Wat Nong Wang tell the Lao-Isan folktale, Four Jampa Trees. I’ve yet to translate the story to English, but have posted this page so the […]
Read more
The translation of the story is not yet finished. I have set the post to public so that the QR code at the temple does not lead to a broken link. This version of the Sin Sai (สินไซ) folktale comes from the 120 […]
Read more
A little-known peripheral figure in the Buddha’s life story, Sumana-Setthi’s (สุมนะเศรษฐี) conversion is one of many great folktales in ancient Buddhist texts. This one is found in the non-canonical Dhammapadatthakatha, the commentary on the Dhammapada book of the Pali Canon. My version here […]
Read more
One of the best-known folktales in Isan, the romantic legend of Prince Phadaeng (ผาแดง) and Princess Nang Ai (นางไอ่) explains the formation of Sakon Nakhon province’s Nong Han (หนองหาน) lake, the largest natural lake in the northeast. Some people in Udon Thani tell […]
Read more
The classic love story between Nang Oraphim (นางอรพิม) and Thao Pajit (ท้าวปาจิต) is a widely known Thai folktale (some even consider it a non-canonical Jataka tale) with many different versions. The story as told in Khorat province is based on the town of […]
Read more
อ่านภาษาไทยที่นี่ (Click here to read a Thai version.) The carved wooden doors on the sixth floor of Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon stupa at Wat Nong Wang tell many of the main episodes from the Buddha’s life up to and including his enlightenment. The […]
Read more
อ่านภาษาไทยที่นี่ (Click here to read a Thai version.) The carved wooden doors and window shutters on the fifth floor of Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon stupa at Wat Nong Wang tell some episodes (the story is far from complete) from the Buddha’s life following […]
Read more
The Jataka tales (chah-dok in Thai) recount stories from some of the past lives of the being who would eventually reach enlightenment as the Buddha. Often compared with Aesop’s fables (Aesop’s and the Jataka tales even share some plots), the Buddha-to-be is often […]
Read more
อ่านภาษาไทยที่นี่ (Click here to read a Thai version.) The carved wooden doors and window shutters on the seventh floor of Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon stupa at Wat Nong Wang tell the last ten Jataka tales. The artist was Tawon Gonkaew. The Jataka tales […]
Read more
This list records the main past-life incarnations of the Buddha as recounted in each of the 547 Jataka tales. Any list of this sort will be inexact because it is not just a simple tabulation: a lot of judgment is required. In about […]
Read more
The 547 Jataka tales (chah-dok in Thai) recount stories from some of the past lives of the being who would eventually become the Buddha. The final ten stories, called tot-sah-chat chah-dok (ทศชาติชาดก) or phra-jao-sip-chat (พระเจ้าสิบชาติ ) in Thai and the Mahanipata Jataka in English […]
Read more
This fantastic short story is taken from the Maha-Ummagga Jataka Tale (#546), but it’s not actually a part of it. It’s a footnote in the book The Jataka or Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births (E. B. Cowell ed., Cambridge University Press, 1895-1907) […]
Read more
In the late 19th century, the first team to translate the entire collection of Jataka tales into English felt this story was so indecent that they published it only in Latin so only scholars could read it. Here is a short version of […]
Read more
The third-floor murals inside Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon stupa at Wat Nong Wang temple tell the story of Prince Vessantara (Phra Wetsandon in Thai). It’s the last of the 547 Jataka tales, a collection of birth stories from the Pali Canon (the Buddhist […]
Read more
This version of the Nang Phom Hom folktale is based on the paintings on the third-floor window shutters and doors of Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon stupa at Wat Nong Wang temple in Khon Kaen city. (The lead painter was Uthaitong Jantagon from Kalasin.) […]
Read more
A clique of the Buddha’s monks taunted and insulted other monks when they disagreed with them on something. When the Buddha was told about their behavior he scolded them and then told them this story of one of his past lives so they […]
Read more
One of the Buddha’s disciples, while out on a morning alms round, saw a woman so beautiful he fell in love at first sight. After returning to the monastery, his obsession with her made him depressed and ill and he could no longer […]
Read more
The Isan-Lao folktale of Nang Phom Hom (นางผมหอม) is about a girl whose father is the king of elephants and who is later turned into a monkey by a ghost before she and her family are finally able to live happily ever after. […]
Read more
This is a typical version of the Nang Phom Hom legend. I’ve also written a long version of the story as told in the paintings at Wat Nong Wang temple in Khon Kaen city. These photos on this page were taken there too. […]
Read more
Phu Phrabat Historical Park, spread out around the top of a small mountain range, was an important Dvaravati religious site from around 1000-1200 CE. It was deep wilderness, but as many as 100 monks resided here and they adapted the rocky landscape into […]
Read more