B
Bai raka
An ornamental crest running along the barge boards on the gable ends of a roof.
Ban Chiang
The prehistoric civilization in Northeast Thailand with artifacts revealing
a metal culture, dating from between 3600 and 2500 B.C.E., and extensive pottery
production, including funerary vessels with distinctive lineal designs painted
red-on-buff.
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Banteay
Citadel. A khmer temple with an important enclosing wall.
Bas-relef
Sculpture in low relief, with t he figures projecting only slightly from the
background.
Bat
A maonk's alms bowl.
Bayon
Khmer temple built by King Jayavarman VII in the city of Angkor Thom. Also applies
to the Khmer school of art from the late 12th to the early 13th
centuries C.E.
B.E.
Buddhist Era. The Theravada tradition claims that the Buddha's parinirvana occurred
in the year 544 B.C.E., marking the beginning of the Buddhist era in Burma,
Sri Lanka, and India. In Thailand, Laos and Combodia the era begins on the first
anniversary of that event, in 543 B.C.E. Thus, for example, a Thai B.E. date
may be converted to C.E. by subtracting 543.
Bhikku
An ordained Buddhist monk; a religious mendicant.
Bhikkuni
Feminine form of bhikku; a Buddhist nun. Although Theravada Buddhism originally
provided for an order of nuns, it was discontinued centuries ago. The white-robed
women with shaved heads seen in Thai monasteries are lay persons without official
status who live according to Buddhist precepts. Also called mae chi in Thailand.
Budhi tree
The sacred fig tree in Bodh Gaya under which the Buddha attained bodhi or enlightenment.
After the original tree was cut in 600 C.E., cuttings were replanted wherever
Theravada Buddhism was introduced and practiced.
Borobudur
Great Buddhist monument built in Java by the Sailendra kings between 778 and
824 C.E. A nine-tiered mountain-like structure, it rises to a height of 34.5m.
it is decorated with five kilometers of relief, ornamented with five hundred
Buddha images, and constructed of more than one million andesite stones, or
volcanic rock, mined from riverbeds. Symbolically Borobudur is at the same time
a stupa, a peplica of the cosmic mountain Mt. Meru, and a mandala.
Brahman
The universal world spirit which is all pervading, absolute, and eternal in
Hindu philosophy. It is the source of all creation, animate and inanimate. It
is also the highest social category in the Hindu caste system, and the only
castes from which a priest can come.
Brahmanism
An early form of Hinduism during the Vedic period in India. The religion was
brought to India by the Aryans during the second millenium B.C.E.
Buddhapada
Footprint of the Buddha.
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Buddhist Lent
The three-month period during the rainy season when monks retreat to the monasteries
to study and refrain from traveling.