ABSTRACT
There were 3 objectives for this thesis: (1) to study the history of Buddhist stupa building appoared in the Tipitaka and the Atthakatha; (2) to study the history on the construction of Phradhat Sajja in Tha Li district, Loei province and the tradition of worshipping the stupa; and (3) to study the people’s beliefs in the worship. The study was a qualitative research design. The data were collected through a questionnaire, related documents, and in-depth interviews with 14 participants consisting of Buddhist monks and laymen. Content analysis was conducted and the findings were as follows.
It was found that, according to Mahaparinibbanasutta (the story of Lord Buddha’s Nirvana), the Lord Buddha spoke with one of his attendants, venerable Ananda about the construction and the worship of a stupa that “They should treat the remains of mine and the Arahants’ the same way they normally do with the royal remains of the King Chakrabhadi’s. The stupa for my remains should be built at the intersection of four major roads for the people who have faith in the stupato do worship with flowers and scented materials. The purposes are for mutual support and the people’s forever happiness.” The members of Sakyan clan and the people of Kapilavatthu town built a stupa for housing the Lord Buddha’s remains and celebrated it in the town.The worship and the ceremony celebrating the remains have become a tradition and a heritage culture of the Buddhists till nowadays.
The study on the history of the construction of Phradhat Sajja revealed that for over 2000 years ago, 500 Arahants with the venerable Maha Kassapa as the president had prayed for the construction of Phradhat Phanom for physically representing Buddhism while the Saddharma or Buddha’s doctrines was considered the real Buddhism. Phradhat Phanom was damaged on the 11th of August in 1975. As a result, the Buddhist followers whose names shown in the stone inscription and a Buddhist monk named Thongsook Sudhammohad prayed with strong faith to create a shadow of Buddhism, a model of Phradhat Phanom namely “Phradhat Sajja Lad Pu”. Its purpose was to renew the Buddhist life. The model was built on the 13th of May 1976. Since then, the tradition of worshipping Phradhat Sajja has been followed till today.
Through the in-depth interview with people about the worship of Phradhat Sajja in Tha Li district, Loei province, it was found that those people believed in the supernatural power of the stupa in preventing them from all dangers and bringing them luck. The Buddha’s relics placed inside the stupa had a role as the center of faith among Loei people and led them to live their life in the Buddhist way with moral practice physically, mentally, and orally.
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