The Golden Buddha in Bangkok's Chinatown
e X pose / Shutterstock.com
In the southern part of Bangkok's Chinatown is in the Wat Traimit to see a special Buddha statue. It is the world's largest gold statue and weighs no less than 5500 kg.
The statue originally dates from the time of the Thai Sukhothai dynasty (1238 – 1583). It's probably in the 15e century to the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya.
There, after some time, the statue was hidden under a layer of plaster to mask the gold and protect the precious property against invaders, after Ayutthaya was attacked by the Burmese army in 1767.
The statue was still hidden under plaster when it was taken to Wat Traimit in Bangkok's Chinatown. It came to stand there under a roof, without anyone knowing that the plaster layer concealed a golden treasure.
In 1955 the Golden Buddha moved to a new home. During this move, cables snapped and the statue was damaged. Pieces of the plaster crumbled and so the true value of the precious statue was discovered after 200 years.
The nearly four-meter-tall statue is valued at $260 million, but it is priceless from a historical and religious point of view.
– Relocated in memory of Lodewijk Lagemaat † February 24, 2021 –
Hallucinatory, assuming that the statue is made of 24 kt gold, you quickly reach a market value of € 176 million. But I would be surprised if it concerns 24 kt gold, being fine gold or pure gold. Applying a layer of plaster would protect it, but under its own weight the statue would disfigure itself. Pure gold is inert, but very malleable. With a healthy fingernail you can already make a scratch in it. From that point of view, people used to bite into a gold coin to see if it was real; with a tooth print as a result you knew that almost for sure.
Do ask me whether this Buddha statue of enormous monetary value was something like Fort Nox in the States at the time. Was it rather religious, a form of investment of the then rulers? At first glance, it seems to me inconsistent with the teachings of the Buddha to collect valuable raw materials and have them handcrafted into his figure. On the other hand, it seems plausible to me to do just that, to renounce earthly possessions, towards the Buddha. In other words, hand over all your gold and have it made into a large statue.
Naturally, this Buddha statue is of inestimable value from a historical point of view.
There is also the emerald Buddha, but it does not consist of the emerald as the mineral is known today by that name.
I like the idea of donating valuable offerings to a monk's society at death or even while alive. This way you don't become a slave to your money or someone else's. By the way, notice with many Thais, whether they lose their gold chain with Buddha pendant, a car or a house, stolen or whatever, it is already forgotten (or forgiven?) the next day in this case. "Mai pen rai," and you start again.
There is also something similar in Jewish culture, one knows the expression to take a sabbatical year. This is a westernized expression of an existence phenomenon. In Jewish culture there is a period in your life, from one day to the next, but timed, leaving everything behind and starting the next day with nothing. With the possibility (weeks, months, a year) to return to your familiar surroundings and wealth afterwards, say a kind of fasting period.
The golden Buddha already gives me food for thought, and thanks for posting about it.
After the emerald Buddha, discussed earlier on this blog (Thursday?), the golden Buddha appears.
And now I want to succeed, I retired young in the diamond industry. A permanent employee and also a good friend of mine has just obtained a highly coveted patent: a diamond-cut Buddha! Has been done before, but this man is the Einstein among the diamond cutters, after Gaby Tolkowski. There's work to be done, because that jewel has already achieved great success, and there is only the blueprint. Apart from very white (D-colour), diamonds can also be light pink (colour of the King, for example), very light blue (top colour), or light yellow (cape). However, my gut tells me that it is not wise to commercialize this; without having thoroughly discussed this with those involved in the Buddhist environment. Maybe within 200 years a plaster-covered diamond Buddha will surface ;)~only cynical remark could be; they do get smaller, those Buddhas…
Dear Davis,
We must remain realistic. The interior will not be gold. Count with me for a moment:
Specific gravity of 24 karat gold is 19,3
If the statue has a weight of 5500 kg, then it has a water displacement, if it is made of 24 carat gold of: 5500 kg : 19,3 = equal to 284,9740932642487 liters of water. This means that the image has a volume (water displacement) of 285 litres, slightly more than a quarter of a cubic meter. However, the statue is almost 4 meters high. It is very unlikely that the statue, which is almost 4 meters high, has a displacement of no more than 285 liters.
Didier writes below:
The body and head are made of 18 carat gold and the hair and peak (together 45 kg) of 24 carat gold. Specific gravity of 18 carat gold (which is used for jewelry) is 15,4. Converted, if the body consists of 18 carat gold, the statue has a water displacement of 356,5523854383958 liters, just over a third of a cubic meter. In that case, too, that is unlikely. In addition, the color of 24 carat gold is darker than 18 carat gold
It is likely that the image is hollow or made of a much lighter material with a layer of gold applied to it.
NB:
Gold with a carat lower than 24 is an alloy with silver and/or copper. This is reflected in the color difference with 24 karat gold. That means that the hair and tip, in the case described by Didier, must be a different color from the body. 18 karat gold for jewelry is an alloy with 12,5% silver and 12,5% copper, with a yellower color. In addition, there are various alloys with other metals that each have a different color, such as white gold (alloyed with nickel).
body is 40% gold 18 carat
chin to forehead 80% gold 18 carat
hair and peak on head 99% gold 24 carat (45 kg)
…and don't forget to visit the museum on the second or third floor below the statue: the history of the (arrival of the) Chinese in Bangkok, from which almost all Thai government members, businessmen and high-ranking officials come from or are closely associated with .
Small museum but nicely decorated.