Legend of Phra Malai

THAILAND

Phra Malai was a monk who acquired the ability to travel to the heavenly and hell realms through meditation. He received teachings from Maitreya Bodhisattva in Trayastrimsa Heaven and descended to hell to witness the sufferings of evildoers. After returning to the human world, he taught people what he had learned from Maitreya, and warned them of the consequences of evil deeds.
The first of these two paintings depicts Phra Malai in heaven conversing with Maitreya Bodhisattva and Sakra. Phra Malai is in the upper left corner, wearing an orange monastic robe and holding a fan. Maitreya is on the right, dressed in royal attire and displaying the vitarka (teaching) mudra. The Bodhisattva has a petal-shaped nimbus decorated with flame patterns. Sakra, kneeling and gazing upward at Maitreya, sits beside a golden urn at the bottom of the image. In the second painting, Phra Malai, again dressed in an orange robe and holding a fan, is shown kneeling as he flies through swirling clouds. The large, simply drawn figures dominate the compositions, characteristic of artwork from the rule of King Rama I (reigned 1782–1809).