Torso of an image of the Hindu deity Vishnu

Early Stages of Buddhist and Hindu Art in Thailand

Most of the objects in this case relate to the poorly understood culture of Dvaravati, which flourished in parts of central and north central Thailand from the sixth to tenth century. Both Chinese records and locally produced silver coins use this name for a kingdom or, more likely, a group of small kingdoms, with a distinctive culture. This culture produced brick temples with stucco or terra-cotta decoration, and free-standing stone and bronze sculpture, mostly representing the Buddha and bodhisattvas. The people of the Dvaravati region seem to have spoken the Mon language, which is distantly related to Khmer (Cambodian) but not to Thai. Mon speakers still live today in parts of central Thailand and south-central Myanmar (Burma).

The discovery of numerous statues of Vishnu in central and peninsular Thailand indicates worship of this Hindu deity. Inscriptions tell us many of these statues had royal patrons. The images are quite distinctive but do bear stylistic similarities to early images from ancient Cambodia, suggesting connections between the two regions.