The Belief in Indra in the Early Era of the Chua Chet Ton’s Dynasty: A Case Study of King Kawila's Reign

Abstract

Background and objective (s): The belief in Indra is based on one of the rituals for establishing the ruling class, as seen from the word “Inthraphisek” when the king performs a coronation. Some studies have applied the belief in Indra to the context of governance during the reign of King Rama I of the Chakri Dynasty, who had political relations with local kings in Lanna during the period of the country’s restoration. Therefore, this research aimed to study the belief in Indra from historical documents, literature, beliefs and rituals, together with evidence of artwork from the early period of the Chua Chet Ton Dynasty in the areas of Lampang, Lamphun and Chiang Mai, in order to search for traces of cultural practices and test the hypothesis that local kings of the Chua Chet Ton Dynasty were likely influenced by the belief in Indra from the Chakri Dynasty, with a primary focus on the context during the reign of King Kawila.

Methodology: The study used four groups of evidence: The first group was historical documentary data to study the background of King Kawila. The second group was the study of Buddhist literature, including translations of palm leaf/folded palm leaf scriptures, and Lanna Dharma scripts (Makamanawa built a pavilion, Phuk Thon and Inthalong Chaichat). The third group was to study beliefs and rituals of Inthakhil pillar worship in the areas of Lamphun and Chiang Mai. The fourth group was the study of the forms of art created during the 24th CE., including paintings, the Traibhumi picture books, Lanna Dharma scripts, and the sculpture of Indra holding a chakra weapon. The information and connections in creating the meaning of Indra for King Kawila, King Thammalangka and King Khamfan were then analyzed to examine the research hypothesis.

Main result: King Kawila played an important role in blending the belief in Indra from the Chakri Dynasty to create a cultural practice in Lamphun and Chiang Mai. This can be seen from the traces of 1) the name when he was crowned by K ing Rama I, which included the word “Ong In”; 2) the ritual and belief in worshiping the Inthakhil pillar, which combined the belief in ghosts with the belief in Indra, which may have adopted the idea of a city pillar as in Bangkok; and 3) the naming of Chiang Mai as “Rattanatingsa Apinwaburi”, which has the same meaning as the creation of “Rattanakosin” as the city of Indra during the reign of King Rama I. These traces were likely blended by King Kawila to create a cultural practice that emphasized the role of the new leader in uniting the common people. In addition, the study of literature and art has an example from the creation of the Lanna version of the Indra legend literature to emphasize Indra as the person who directs people’s behavior to be moral. As for the evidence in art, although this study still has unclear results, there are points that indicate that belief in Indra was adopted from the model of the Bangkok royal court, namely 1) Indra in the Traiphum picture book, Lanna Dharma script, the Fine Arts Department version, shows his body color as green, which is a symbol that probably originated in the Chao Phraya River basin; 2) The sculpture of Indra on the Erawan elephant, although the style is similar to ancient Lanna art in the Mangrai Dynasty, this Indra shows his hand holding a chakra weapon , which is a new concept that arose in the early Rattanakosin period.

Relevance to Thai Studies: This research article aims to study historical evidence, the literary legend of Indra, and the ritual worship of the Inthakhil pillar found in Chiang Mai, combined with the analysis of sculptures and paintings depicting Indra . This research shows the background of the belief in Indra that influenced the new ruling class, which will help to interpret the meaning of Indra in various dimensions.

Conclusion: King Kawila, as the new ruling class after the Lanna restoration, likely played a significant role in incorporating the belief in Indra into arts and culture. This is clearly seen from his name and the city of Chiang Mai, as well as the rituals related to the Inthakhil pillar. Another context that likely occurred during this period was the creation of literature about Indra that emphasized teaching the people to make merit within the framework of morality. In terms of artistic evidence, there are traces from the sculpture of Indra holding a chakra weapon. These traces show the creation of a kind of legitimacy of rule since King Kawila was a new power group that ruled Chiang Mai.