Grand Palace - Museum of The Emerald Buddha Temple

Museum of The Emerald Buddha Temple

The Museum of the Emerald Buddha Temple (พิพิธภัณฑ์วัดพระศรีรัตนศาสดาราม), despite its name, is the main artefacts repository of both the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha complex. The museum is located between the Outer and Middle Court and sits opposite the Phra Thinang Maha Prasat Group. A building was constructed on the present location in 1857 during the reign of King Rama IV as the Royal Mint (โรงกษาปณ์สิทธิการ, Rong Kasarp Sitthikarn; RTGS: Rong Kasap Sitthikan). King Rama V ordered the mint to be enlarged, but not long after this the building was destroyed by fire and needed to be rebuilt.

The two-storied structure is rectangular in plan. The portico has four Ionic columns with fluted stems and cabbage leaf capitals. The front gables of the building have Renaissance style plaster moulding. The lower part of the exterior walls are made of plastered brick. The upper windows have semi-circular French windows, with pilasters on both sides. In 1902 a new royal mint department was constructed outside the palace's walls and the old mint building was left vacant. The building was then first converted for use as a royal guards barracks and later as a royal guards officer's club.

In 1982, on the bicentennial anniversary year of the founding of Bangkok and the building of the Grand Palace, the building was selected as the site of a new museum. It was established at the instigation of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to hold certain architectural elements, which had to be replaced; various artefacts and Buddha images that were donated to the Grand Palace by the general public.

The ground floor of the museum displays a varied selection of artefacts. These included certain architectural elements, which were removed from various buildings within the Grand Palace during different renovations, as well as were the stone Buddha images and Chinese statues. They included many figures from Thai literature, the Ramakien, such as Supanmacha and Hanuman. The stone figures date from the reign of King Rama III, and were later move to the museum to prevent damage. In the central hall are the bones of white elephants. These elephants were not actually white but have certain special characteristics such as pinkish colouring and cream eyes. The White elephant was an important symbol of kingship; the more the monarch possessed the greater was his prestige. This belief and veneration of the animal is common to many other South-east Asian cultures.

The upper floor rooms display more artistic and precious objects. In the main hall are two architectural models of the Grand Palace, the first representing the Grand Palace during the reign of King Rama I, and another in the reign of King Rama V. Behind these are numerous Buddha images and commemorative coins. In the doorway leading to the main hall is a small mother-of-pearl seating platform known as Phra Thaen Song Sabai (พระแท่นทรงสบาย), which was once located in the Phra Thinang Phiman Rattaya Throne Hall. The platform was used for informal audiences and dates from the time of King Rama I. At the end of the main hall stands the Phra Thaen Manangsila Throne (พระแท่นมนังคศิลาอาสน์; RTGS: Phra Thaen Manangkha Sila At), which is believed to date to the Sukhothai Kingdom and was brought back to Bangkok, from Sukhothai, by King Rama IV, when he was still a monk. Against the walls on either side of the hall are four different Buddha images of Javanese style; they were purchased by King Rama V. The room to the right of the Manangsila Throne displays the various seasonal robes of the Emerald Buddha. To the left of the main hall is an enormous gold lacquer ware screen depicting the crowning of Shiva, king of the gods. The screen was formerly kept in the Phra Thinang Amarinthara Pisek Maha Prasat; it was saved from the fire apparently by the hands of King Rama I himself. The rest of the upper floor displays various objets d′art (such as a model of Mount Kailasa) and more Buddha images.