Chrismate: Thai architecture : what is a 'Sala' ?

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Thai architecture : what is a 'Sala' ?

This type of construction is fairly common in the country. A sala [ศาลา] is a four-sided open building whose purpose is to protect people from the sun or the rain. It is also used as a communal meeting place. Originally, the word comes from the Sanskrit meaning a hall or a shed.

There are three types of sala: they are often found in monasteries or near a temple [wat]; they can

Sala at the National Museum of Bangkok

also,o be found in rural communities as a place to rest or wait for a public transport; there are also royal sala, a more elaborate form of this type of building.

This particular architectural model generates a reflexion on its origin and its purpose.

Hinduism & Buddhism are beliefs that stress the importance of relationship within a community. A sala is, therefore a building that represents this primary purpose.

But then, considering that architecture often bears a symbolic meaning, it might be interesting to consider the specific shape of a sala.

It is cross-like construction horizontally longer. The cross itself indicates a sort of crossroad for all

Royal Sala at the Dusit Throne Hall

the social levels of communal society. But it is made of two axes pointing to the cardinal directions. The horizontal axis represents the fundamental course of human life, starting with the rising sun in the East, and the falling sun in the West. This symbolism is inherent to the square shape of royal cities or even temples.

This is only one side of the consideration for there exists a vertical axis that becomes more conspicuous with the roof. Asian roofs are always very elaborate. They are also bearing symbolic decorations that clearly reveals a link to the sky. This vertical axis – from Earth to Sky – appears traditionally in the Thai wats under the trilogy of two side Nagas (the water serpent) topped with an effigy of Hamsa (the swan).

Hamsa

Naga Naga

Of course, this will only be accurate in the most elaborate forms of a sala.

The symbolic animals

-The Hamsa (a Sanskrit word) is an aquatic bird of passage, which is used as a decorative element representing a spiritual symbol.

Water → Air

-The naga (also a Sanskrit word) is a cobra and any kind of snake by extension. They are believed to live on Mount Meru with other minor deities. There are two kinds: either water-dwellers or earth-dwellers.

The image of a seven-headed naga is a representation of the mythological 7 races associated with the 7 colors of the rainbow.

Air (Mount Meru) → Earth / Water

In the Eastern World, there are 5 elements. It is interesting to relate them to the preceding description. It also implies a cycle of rebirth :

The Cycle of the Five Elements

Wood feeds Fire

Fire creates Earth (ash)

Earth bears Metal

Metal collects Water

Water nourishes Wood

Sala standing on the bank of the Chao Phraya River in Rattanakosin (Royal section of Bangkok)

Description of the wood sala standing on the riverbank:

-a triangle: male symbol + fire

-with 3 elements: Hamsa + 2 Nagas

-Hamsa is a swan, a water bird able to fly in the air

-the Naga is a mythical serpent – identical to the Chinese dragon- associated with water and the earth

The sala roof detail

(he can live in both)

-the inverted V-shape of the roof gable has an identical function as a pyramid but is an image of Mount Meru, the mountain where the deities live, like Mount Olympus in Greece.

-the symbolic movements refer to Hamsa, the water-bird, ready to fly high in the sky and representing Spirituality [1] + the undulating Nagas [2] descending from the mountain as guardians of the spiritual world and protectors of the earth. The Nagas have scales resembling the waves and a crest on their heads figuring fire.

-there are 3 parts in the gable: the triangle, mountain symbol + a forest of volutes inside the mountain of life, symbolizing the complexity and dangers of earthly existence + a frieze of 7 prominences pointing to an empty darkness below.

-this frieze is made of 2 smaller undulating Nagas, whose crested heads are turned towards the chthonian darkness of the underworld.

-finally, the golden metal shield in the middle is like the Light / Sun, which brings Illumination.

-This is how this image represents the spirituality choice by using the 5 Asian elements.

-NUMBERS have also their importance: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and even 9 when considering the number of steps leading to the platform where the sala is built.

Traditional Thai architecture has a symbolic meaning inherited from its Hindu heritage. The Thai sala is a specific cultural feature. However, the sala also exists in various other southeastern Asian cultures due to an identical past heritage. For instance, this is also a common sight in Indonesia, particularly in the old Javanese culture.

Christian Sorand

Sala (Thai architecture)