Wat Sanuan Wari Phatthanaram

Operating day: Daily

Operating time: 08.00 - 17.00

 

Wat Sanuan Wari Phatthanaram Hua Nong, Ban Phai, Khon Kaen. Wat Sanuan Wari Phatthanaram the sim has murals on both the outside and inside,6 unlike that at Wat Ban Lan discussed above.

 

The exterior walls are covered primarily with scenes from the Sinsai epic, which begin on the south wall and move clockwise around the building, interrupted by a panel of hell scenes on the west wall. The interior walls are devoted exclusively to the Vessantara Jataka, like those at Wat Ban Lan.

 

The murals on the interior walls of Wat Sanuan Wari depict scenes from the 13 chapters of the Vessantara Jataka, known in Lao as Pha Wetsandon Chadok or Pha Wet. Like those on the outside, the interior figures are simply and expressively presented.

 

The paintings are organized into two horizontal registers of panels separated by vertical decorative borders, reflecting the compositional scheme of pha phra wet (transcription of Thai, not Lao), the horizontal cloth scrolls used in Bun Pha Wet or Vessantara Jataka festivals that take place annually in virtually every wat in Isan.

 

The narrative begins on the side wall to the left of the back wall, in the upper right corner (hence, adjacent to the back wall), and proceeds counter-clockwise. Each register is divided into panels, as with cloth scrolls, for a total of 13 panels; each of the 13 panels corresponds to one of the 13 jataka chapters.