Garuda is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (vahana) of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the Devas, Gandharvas, Daityas, Danavas, Nāgas, Vanara and Yakshas. He is the son of the sage Kashyapa and Vinata. He is the younger brother of Aruna, the charioteer of the Sun. Garuda is mentioned in several other texts such as the Puranas and the Vedas.
Mount Meru —also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru—is a sacred, five-peaked mountain present within Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmologies, revered as the centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes. It is professed to be located at the junction of the four great cosmic continents—Pubbavideha Dīpa, Uttarakuru Dīpa, Amaragoyāna Dīpa and Jambu Dīpa. Despite not having a clearly identified or known geophysical location, Mount Meru is, nevertheless, always thought of as being either in the Himalayan Mountains or the Aravalli Range. Mount Meru is also mentioned in scriptures of other, external religions to India, such as Taoism—which was influenced, itself, by the arrival of Buddhism in China.
Wat Phra Kaew, commonly known in English as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and officially as Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram, is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. The complex consists of a number of buildings within the precincts of the Grand Palace in the historical centre of Bangkok. It houses the statue of the Emerald Buddha, which is venerated as the country's palladium.
Nakhon Sawan is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (changwat). It lies in lower northern Thailand, neighbouring the provinces of Kamphaeng Phet, Phichit, Phetchabun, Lopburi, Sing Buri, Chai Nat, Uthai Thani, and Tak.
Sukhothai Historical Park covers the ruins of Sukhothai, literally 'dawn of happiness', capital of the Sukhothai Kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries, in north central Thailand. It is near the city of Sukhothai, capital of Sukhothai Province.
Ubon Ratchathani, often shortened to Ubon (อุบลฯ), is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces lies in lower northeastern Thailand also called Isan. Ubon is about 630 km (390 mi) from Bangkok. Neighboring provinces are Sisaket, Yasothon, and Amnat Charoen. To the north and east it borders Salavan and Champasak of Laos, to the south Preah Vihear of Cambodia.
Sakon Nakhon is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (changwat). It lies in upper northeastern Thailand and is also called Isan. Neighboring provinces are Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan, Kalasin, and Udon Thani. Its capital is Sakon Nakhon.
Lopburi is a province in the central region of Thailand. The province is divided into 11 administrative districts, and Mueang Lopburi district is the capital. With over 750,000 people, the province is Thailand's 36th largest area and 32nd most populous. There are eight neighboring provinces, Phetchabun, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima, Saraburi, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Ang Thong, Sing Buri, and Nakhon Sawan.
Mukdahan is one of Thailand's seventy-six provinces (changwat) and lies in upper northeastern Thailand, also called Isan. Neighboring provinces are Amnat Charoen, Yasothon, Roi Et, Kalasin, Sakon Nakhon, and Nakhon Phanom. To the east it borders the Mekong River, across which lies Savannakhet province of Laos to which it is joined by the Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge.
In various Asian religious traditions, the Nagas are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-Cobra beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. Furthermore, Nagas are also known as dragons and water spirits. A female naga is called a Nagin, or a Nagini. Their descendants are known as Nagavanshi. According to legend, they are the children of the sage Kashyapa and Kadru. Rituals devoted to these supernatural beings have been taking place throughout South Asia for at least 2,000 years. They are principally depicted in three forms: as entirely human with snakes on the heads and necks, as common serpents, or as half-human, half-snake beings in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Phra Pathommachedi or Phra Pathom Chedi is a Buddhist stupa in Thailand. The stupa is located in the Wat Phra Pathommachedi Ratcha Wora Maha Wihan (Thai: วัดพระปฐมเจดีย์ราชวรมหาวิหาร), a temple in the town center of Nakhon Pathom, Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand. Phra Pathommachedi is one of the tallest stupas in the world. The top of its spire reaches 120.45 meters, with the base circumference of 235.50 meters.
Maha Thammaracha I, born as Li Thai, was a king of the Sukhothai Kingdom, and the first Buddhist philosopher to write in the Thai language. He reigned from roughly 1347 until his death in 1368. Li Thai was the son of Loe Thai and the grandson of Ram Khamhaeng the Great.
Wat Chaiwatthanaram is a Buddhist temple in the city of Ayutthaya Historical Park, Thailand, on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, outside Ayutthaya island. It is one of Ayutthaya's best known temples and a major tourist attraction.
The national emblem of Thailand is called the พระครุฑพ่าห์. The Garuda was officially adopted as the national emblem by Vajiravudh in 1911. However, the mythical creature had been used as a symbol of royalty in Thailand for centuries. The Garuda is depicted on seals, which are used by the King and the Government of Thailand to authenticate official documents and as its primary emblem.
Kaeng Khoi is a district (amphoe) of Saraburi province in central Thailand. Located on the bank of the Pa Sak River amid the surrounding hills of the Dong Phaya Yen Mountains, its main town of the same name developed throughout the 19th century, first as a trading post on the river and the passageway into the Northeast, then as a railway town when the Northeastern Railway was built through the town at the end of the century. Today, it has developed into a major industrial centre, especially of cement manufacturing.
The lands situated in the present-day Phitsanulok Province of Thailand have been inhabited since the Stone Age, although the neolithic inhabitants of the region are not likely to have been the ancestors of the modern Thai people who reside there today. The earliest historical records relating to what is now Phitsanulok Province indicates that at a time prior to or during the 11th century, the present-day city of Phitsanulok was but a small strategic Khmer outpost known as Song Khwae. During the next century, in 1188, Nakhon Thai, located near the center of the present Phitsanulok Province, was established as the capital city of the Singhanavati Kingdom, an early city-state of Thailand. Later, during Thailand's Sukhothai Period, the city of Phitsanulok emerged as a major city in the east of the Sukhothai Kingdom, and the great temples of Wat Chula Manee, Wat Aranyik and Wat Chedi Yod Thong were constructed. In 1357, the renowned Wat Phra Sri Rattana Mahathat was erected, and the Ayutthaya Period witnessed the construction of several of the province's other chief temples. Phitsanulok served for 25 years as the capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. In 1555, King Naresuan the Great was born in the city of Phitsanulok. Naresuan played a significant role in the history of Thailand, as he expanded the kingdom to its greatest territorial extent, by conquering sizable portions of modern-day Burma and Cambodia. In recent times, Phitsanulok Province has become an important agricultural center, part of the Bread Basket of Thailand, providing rice and other crops to consumers in Thailand and throughout the world. Extensive agricultural development over the last hundred years or so has spawned a modern infrastructure in the urban areas of the province, bringing with it an array of modern roads, universities, hospitals and other conveniences. Over the years, the Nan River and its tributaries have played a substantial role in the history and development of the region by providing a route for transportation, fertile soil for agriculture, and water for irrigation. The river waters have also served as a route for enemy invaders, and have been the source of periodic widespread flooding throughout the province.
A wat is a type of Buddhist and Hindu temple in Cambodia, Laos, East Shan State, Yunnan, the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Phu Soi Dao National Park named after 2,120 metres (6,960 ft) high Phu Soi Dao mountain, is a protected area at the southern end of the Luang Prabang Range in the Thai/Lao border area, on the Thai side of the range. It is located in Ban Khok and Nam Pat Districts of Uttaradit Province and Chat Trakan District of Phitsanulok Province. The park was established as Thailand's 109th national park in 2008.
Eulogy of King Prasat Thong is a long poem in Thai, composed during the king’s reign (1629–1656) by a senior noble. It is the first Thai poem which is specifically a royal panegyric and titled as such. It recounts the main events of the reign, including the building and renaming of the Chakkawat Phaichaiyon audience hall, adjustment of the calendar, a grand almsgiving, and a military parade and festival, all also described in the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya. It also states that King Prasat Thong is a bodhisatta, destined to become the tenth in a sequence of ten future Buddhas beginning with Metteyya. This claim is currently found in no other document. The sole manuscript, which was discovered in the 1980s, was copied in 1747/8 and is clearly incomplete. An annotated edition, including a facsimile of the original, was prepared by Buntuean Siworaphot and published in 2000.
Wat Pa Pao is a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. Situated at the north-east corner of the old city next to the moat, it was the first temple in Chiang Mai to be built for the Shan community.
