Phu Phrabat, a testimony to the Sīma stone tradition of the Dvaravati period
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How it came to be
Sīma stones are boundary markers that define sacred areas for the practice of Theravada Buddhist monks. Such markers vary in material, but the extensive use of stone is found only on the Khorat Plateau in Southeast Asia. After Buddhism arrived in the 7th century, sīma stones were set up across the region for more than four centuries during the Dvaravati period, from the 7th to the 11th century.
The Phu Phrabat mountain in Udon Thani Province, northeastern Thailand, preserves the largest corpus in the world of Dvaravati sīma stones still in their original positions. Shrines were made in shelters among its unusual rock formations, and paintings in 47 rock shelters record human occupation over two millennia. The paintings at Tham Wua show oxen and those at Tham Khon human figures. The main shrine, Wat Phra Phutthabat Bua Bok, has a chedi over a chamber housing a sandstone footprint of the Buddha.
Thailand's Fine Arts Department made the area a historical park in 1991. On 27 July 2024, at the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in New Delhi, Phu Phrabat became Thailand's eighth World Heritage site.
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