Page 110 - รวมเล่มศาสนาในประเทศไทย ภาคภาษาอังกฤษ

The temple of the Royal Palace in Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin period is Wat Phra
Si Sanphet and Wat Phra Sri Rattana Satsadaram or Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald
Buddha) respectively.
Ubosot or Bot is one of the most important building of the Buddhist wat, as this is
the building where the ceremonies and rituals for the monks, such as recitation of Patimokkha
and Ordination, take place. An ubosot stands within a boundary formed by eight boundary stones
called Bai Sema which separate the sacred from the profane, and thus differs from a viharn. In
earlier times, these religious practices were performed in an open area within the boundary of the
“Sema.” When devout laymen came to pay homage to the Buddha image, they would pour out
donations of faith and money for the construction of permanent buildings for a site. Nowadays,
the main Buddha image is usually enshrined inside the ubosot, which itself gradually became
more decorated and adorned.
Viharn (or Vihara) is a shrine hall similar to the Ubosot, but with no Sema
stones. It houses various Buddha images and is the assembly hall where monks and laypeople
congregate. While there will always only be on Ubosot in a temple, there can be several viharn. In
the earlier times, the word “viharn” was used in the meaning of “temple or wat”, same meaning
as the word “aram” and “awat.” This can be seen in name of some temples like Veluvanaviharn,
Jetavanamahaviharn, etc.
Besides, the word “viharn” is used as suffix of the name of royal temples to show
the ranking order of significance and position of the temple in the hierarchical system.

1 The Ubosot of Wat Benchamabophit
Dusitvanaram, Bangkok
2 Prasat Phra Thep Bidon inside Wat
Phra Sri Rattana Satsadaram, Bangkok

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