Thailand Guide
Southern Thailand: the Gulf coast
The Phra Buddha Sihing shrine
Opening time: Mon– Fri 8.30am– noon & 1–4.30pm
Address: The chapel of the provincial administration complex, Thanon Ratchadamnoen
According to legend, the Phra Buddha Sihing statue was magically created in Sri Lanka in the second century. In the thirteenth century it was sent by ship to the king of Sukhothai, but the vessel sank and the image miraculously floated on a plank to Nakhon. Two other images, one in the National Museum in Bangkok, one in Wat Phra Singh in Chiang Mai, claim to be the authentic Phra Buddha Sihing, but none of the three is in the Sri Lankan style, so they are all probably derived from a lost original. Although similar to the other two in size and shape, the image in Nakhon has a style unique to this area, distinguished by the heavily pleated flap of its robe over the left shoulder, a beaky nose and harsh features, which sit uneasily on the short, corpulent body. The image's plumpness has given the style the name khanom tom – "banana and rice pudding".