ANALYSIS OF BELIEFS AND RELIGIONS IN THE DVARAVATI ERA IN THE ANCIENT CITY OF SI THEP

Abstract

Archaeological evidence has been discovered to date informs the development of people living in the former Thailand from prehistoric times to historical times. However, human development from prehistoric times into historical times is not the same in each place, where most of the ancient cities of the Dvaravati period were located on the plains along the bank of important rivers. Those areas are usually easy contact with other communities, for example, in the Lopburi-Pasak River basin, an ancient city called "Si Thep" and the people of the ancient city of Si Thep had a traditional belief cult with clear evidence that a spiritually stable culture was the human skeleton buried in earthen hills and many other objects. On the religious side, the ancient city of Si Thep used to be the center of both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, based on the evidence, large Buddhist scriptures (Dharma Chakra) inscribed in Balinese and Sanskrit, Amitabha Buddha statue were discovered.  The statue respects both Buddha statue and Dhammachakka pillars, and replica stupa which is the motto of  Theravada Buddhism and Bodhisattva, which are idols in Mahayana traditions in both Hinduism where stone sculptures of Vishnu and Krishna have been found. From the information studied, it can be conducted that “The ancient city of Si Thep” has cult, belief and religion that has evolved into the main respect of the community in the area up to the present.