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Ho Phra Khanthararat (Chapel of the Gandhara Buddha Image)
Situated in the eastern corner of the Royal Chapel compound, the small Chapel of the Gandhara Buddha comprises two structures built on the same base. It was constructed
in the mid-19th century By King Rama IV. In the superstructure of the building at the back, an ancient gilt stupa, brought down from the North by the same king, was reposited.
The front edifice houses a Buddha image known as the Gandhara Buddha. Cast in the reign of King Rama I in the
early Bangkok style, the image is seated with the right hand raised at chest level with the palm curved and turned outward while the left hand is at
waist level with the palm turned upward-the attitude of invoking rain.
Each year this image is moved to the Main Assembly Hall for the Blessing of the Crops during which it is placed on the sermon throne above the seeds to be used in the
Ceremony of the First Ploughing which always takes place the following day the Royal plaza in front of the Grand Palace.
In the past, this image was also used in the Ceremony of Propitiation for Rain, a rite which is no longer performed. On the lower pedestal in front of the Gandhara Buddha Image
stands a much smaller image named Phra Phirun-the Hindu god of water and rain. On either side of Phra Phirun are bronze medels of Nagas, the Hindu mythological serpents
which live in a subterranean kingdom and are genii of waters.
The interior of the chapel is very small and is decorated with murals of the Vessantara Jataka. The unusual feature of these murals is the stucco mouldings that frame them.
Such framing is very rarely found in Thai mural art.
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