With the roof of the prasat removed the giant creature can clear the height of the final building that leads to the city streets and low hanging electrical wires on the final journey to the cremation ground. Great merit is made by lay members that p
Stucco panels of the Thai Buddhist Bestiary
Nok Hatsadiling in Chiang Mai
The royal funeral of the founder of the Lanna Kingdom.
Naga (dragon) balustrades are ubiquitous on temple stairways in Thailand. Brightly colored blue and pink Nok Hatsadilings are sometimes used in the north. They are a rare but formal mythological creature, part of the fantastic bestiary of the Himmap
Threshold Guardians
The Nok Hatsadiling is a mythological guardian figure used to protect the entrance to sacred spaces in Buddhist temples in Northern Thailand. This creature is ornate with realistic grasping talons and a trunk that serves as a perch for a peacock.
Prasat-Nok Hatsadiling
Funeral ceremonies for monks are known locally as 'Poi Loh' or 'Poi Lag Prasat', which means a fair and procession for pulling the Prasat. Important monks, and sometimes elderly monks who were much esteemed by local people, were ceremoniously c
From a local folk-tale recited in the Lanna Thai language in the form of a Jataka story about a past-life of the Buddha. Many stories include supernatural elements, such as a mechanical swan or other creature able to fly. The nok hatsadiling as a c
Apis bull carrying the dead to the underworld
Winged creature decorating a funerary coffer (Minoan Larnax)
Terracotta Sphinx figure
The Griffin as an allegory of Christ
A monk pays hommage
According to the oldest upanishadic texts, the swan (hamsa) is identified as a bird of passage. The swan is symbolic of the transcendence of the earth. According to the epic Ramayana , the swan exceeded all birds in the height of their flight. Anci
Selected pictures of the construction of a Nok Hatsadiling for the cremation of Chan Kusalo, Patriarch-Abbot (regional chief monk) of Northern Thailand. Built from a hardwood framework, incorporating bamboo,  and decorated with hand-paint
The Nok Hatsadiling's Kranock
Malaysian Perahu Bangau in the form of a Hamsa (Swan)
Collections of Illustrations of the Animals of the Himalaya
Recently discovered scroll depicting royal funeral procession in Siam
Procession of Prasats following the Hatsadiling
Leading the long procession a senior monk reads protective scripture from a palanquin.
Dek Wat (Temple Boys) arrive with puffed rice and robes
Piiphaat Mon Ensemble
The symbolism of puffed rice at funerals
Making the Nok Hatsadiling in Chiang Mai
Making the Nok Hatsadiling 2
Making the Nok Hatsadiling 3
Making the Nok Hatsadiling 4
Making the Nok Hatsadiling 6
Making the Nok Hatsadiling 8
Making the Nok Hatsadiling 9
Use of the Hatsadiling in Theravadan Buddhist design
Elephant headed Naga creatures
Design and Decoration: Nok Hatsadiling chofa and barge boards
Design and Decoration: The Himaphan Forest
Kinnari, Nok Hatsadilings and phurnaghata (the ever-flowering pot)
Eave brackets with stylized elephant heads
Temple door guardians with elephant heads
Door Guardians in Mae Hong Son
Nok Hatsadiling chofa
Faithful bid Luang Phor Koon final farewell
Laying clothes in the path of the Hatsading funeral procession
Ban Phek Cloth Scroll showing a Hatsadiling (King of Birds)
A Bestiary Unto Itself
Black & White image from a Red Lacquer and Gold wall panel
prev / next