This is a wonderful image from Burma of the Buddhist saint/spirit Upakhut (thanks very much to the photographer Ampika Rattanapitak). Here are two other images: upakhut-2.JPG and here upakhut-3.JPG.
Upakhut is an important figure in local belief in many areas of Burma, northern Thailand and Laos. The stories of his origins are numerous. (For those interested, The Legend and Cult of Upagupta by John Strong has a wealth of detail.) In Sanskrit legend he is the son of a perfume maker and one of the early followers of the Buddha. In northern Thailand, many villagers believe that Upakhut is the son of the Buddha himself. Legend has it that he was conceived when a fish ate some of the Buddha’s semen when he washed his robe (or bathed) in a river. Upakhut was born and lives in a grand palace at the bottom of the ocean. One of his key roles is to provide protection on the occasion of major Buddhist festivals (poi luang) when he is taken from the river and installed in a temporary pavilion in the temple grounds. Here is a brief description of one such occasion from the northern Thai village of Baan Tiam.
In northern Thailand it is customary to hold a great festival to consecrate and celebrate newly constructed or renovated Buddhist structures. In the village of Baan Tiam such a festival was held over five days in March 2004. In this case the poi luang was held to mark the renovation of the temple’s wiharn and chedi, the installation of new Buddha images and the renovation of the temple kitchen. It was an exceptional event.
After days of intense preparation the festival commenced on the nineteenth of March, late in the afternoon. A small procession wound its way out of the village, accompanied by drums, gongs and colourful flags. The purpose of the procession was to invite Phra Uppakhut to join the festival. Phra Uppakhut is locally believed to be the son of the Buddha who resides on the bottom of the main stream that winds its way through Baan Tiam’s paddy fields. On the outskirts of the village, the procession followed a narrow track down to the river where the village’s lay religious leader recited a prayer of invitation to Upakhut. He then reached into the river and drew out a small stone that was placed on the offering tray that he carried. Upakhut was a small dark and smooth pebble, about 3 centimetres high, rounded at the edges and having a shape vaguely reminiscent of a small Buddha image or amulet. During this brief ritual of invitation the procession was joined by two forest spirits with gruesome heads, toothy smiles and filthy robes. These spirits, phi koon, were also coming to join the festival—invited as representatives of the many spirits who had become aware of the poi luang due to its considerable fame. The procession then made its way back to the village, Upakhut silent on his tray and the spirits dancing around causing mayhem with young children and thrusting what appeared to be prominent erections beneath their robes in the direction of respectable village matrons. “This is just a small ritual” I was assured “it will be much more fun in the coming days.” When the procession reached the temple the spirits had no hesitation in entering, dancing their lurid way inside the compound, until their skins and heads were eventually shed and hidden away in a back room. Meanwhile Uppakhut was installed in a temporary pavilion (a “miniature wiharn”) at the back of the temple compound, next to the spirit house of the temple’s protective spirit. Uppakhut was provided with a monk’s robe, begging bowl, water bottle, pillow and fan. He was there to protect the festival. Food offerings were bought to him on the mornings that followed. [He was returned to the river on the final day of the festival.]
In northern Thailand many of the Upakhut amulets represent him in a rather different form to the Burmese style shown in the photos above. Here is an examlple:
In this type of amulet, Upakhut takes the form of a rather odd looking water spirit, often clutching a lotus flower and surrounded by fish and other aquatic creatures. Many amulets feature him cradled within a shell. I have been told many times that these types of amulets are of Khmer origin. If any New Mandala readers have any information on Khmer (or other) perspectives on Upakhut I would be very interested to hear the details!
4 responses so far ↓
1 Jon Fernquest // Apr 25, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Thanks for this entry. Finally found something I want to blog about in my own personal blog. John Strong is one of strongest scholars out there. His book on Asokan myths and his paper on the Gavampti tradition being wonderful examples.
2 Erik Davis // Apr 26, 2007 at 1:49 pm
As Jon F. notes above, John Strong wrote an excellent book which deals in some depth with Upagupta (Upakhut). One of the most famous stories about Upagupta (and the story which is depicted in the first photo) is that one day Upagupta was unable to finish his meal before noon, after which monks are no longer allowed to eat solid foods until the next day. Instead of putting away his bowl, he magically stopped the sun in the sky until he could finish. That’s why he’s looking up at the sky.
The amulet at the bottom doesn’t look particularly Khmer to me, though that means nothing about the ‘type.’ Upagupta is a famous personality throughout SEA, though I was surprised at how little he was in evidence in Cambodia, compared to what some of the literature (Strong again) had led me to expect.
3 New Mandala » Upakhut in Sipsongpanna // Jun 3, 2007 at 2:56 pm
[...] late April, I posted some Burmese images of the Buddhist saint/spirit Upakhut. During my recent visit to Sipsonpanna I [...]
4 Cittasamvaro // Jun 17, 2008 at 12:52 pm
A nice article, as Upagupta is popular in the North of Thailand.
One of the more famous stories about him relates to an episode where he captures Mara, the personification of Delusion. He claims he never saw the rupa-kaya (material body) of the Buddha, only the Dharma-kaya (Enlightened form). He then makes Mara, who had seen the rupa-kaya of the Buddha, assume that form so Upagupta can see what the Buddha looked like.
Apparantly his hair stood on end in scstasy and his eyes filled with tears, and he bowed down to the form as if it were Buddha himself. Mara coud not bear this and fell down unconscious.
This story is often portrayed in the murals in Thai temples, in the form of a monk holding a Buddha form tied to a rock - as can be seen on the West wall in Wat Phra Kaew.
Upagupta also converted Mara to the Dhamma - something the Buddha himself was not able to do. One account has him disguise a dead dog, dead snake and a dead human as a garland which Mara, thinking he has defeated Upagupta, willingly puts on his shoulders. The stink is terrible, but because he put it on voluntarily he cannot remove it. No God can remove it from him and eventually he is advised to go back to Upagupta. He complains that the Buddha never tormented him in this way. Upagupta points out that this is a reverence that Mara has for the Buddha’s compassion, and this is what inspires Mara to faith in the Dhamma.
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