Buddha Tree

The Buddha Tree at Ayutthaya.

The Buddha Tree grows amongst the ruins of Wat Mahathat and is one of the most iconic images of Thailand. The head was once part of a sandstone Buddha image occupying the Wat in Ayutthaya, which was the capital of Thailand (then called Siam) at the time.

In 1767 the invading Burmese army destroyed the city and lopped the heads off many of the Buddha statues. This particular head gradually became trapped in the roots of the Bodhi tree.

From the inscription:

“The stone head has rather flat and wide facial structure with thick eyebrows and big eye lids, straight wide lip, and discernible lip edge, reflecting the art of Middle Ayutthaya Period, presumably around the mid of 1600s.”