Wat Rajasittharam Ordination Hall: Life of the Buddha - Renunciation

THAILAND, Bangkok; Bangkok period

This mural in the ordination hall of Wat Rajasittharam is a depiction of Prince Siddhartha cutting his hair as a symbol of his renunciation of worldly life. According to the sutras, when the prince reached the Anavama river, he thought, “Without cutting my hair, there would not be any renunciation,” and quickly cut it off with a golden blade.
The prince sits on a rock, holding the end of his long hair with his right hand and raising the blade in his left hand. Sakra floats in the air above the prince, ready to bring the hair back to Trayastrimsa Heaven and enshrine it in a stupa. Four-Headed, Four-Armed Brahma kneels on the right, joining one pair of palms and holding out an alms bowl and a golden washbasin containing a monastic robe for the prince to use in his new life as an ascetic. Beside Brahma, three rows of heavenly beings wearing tall golden headdresses kneel and join their palms in reverence. On the left, Siddhartha’s horse Kanthaka and the loyal charioteer Chandaka lie morosely on the ground, realizing that the prince will never return to the palace. In the lower register, a monstrous fish watches from the rolling river. Monkeys swing in the tall trees on the right, and deer are partially visible behind rounded brown hills.