1507 TH - Phu Phrabat, a testimony to the Sīma stone tradition of the Dvaravati period (2024)

The property illustrates the Sīma stone tradition of the Dvaravati period (7th-11th centuries CE). While sacred boundary markers for areas of Theravada Buddhist monastic practice vary in materials, extensive use of stones is found only in the Khorat Plateau region in Southeast Asia. Buddhism’s arrival in the 7th century led to an increase in the erection of Sīma stones throughout the region for over four centuries. The Phu Phrabat Mountain area preserves the largest corpus in the world of in situ Sīma stones from the Dvaravati period, testifying to the tradition that once prevailed in the region. The scale of Sīma stone erection and rock shelter modification has transformed the natural landscape into a religious centre, and rock paintings on surfaces of 47 rock shelters are the physical evidence of human occupation over two millennia.

普普拉巴特历史公园

普普拉巴特（Phu Phrabat）历史公园体现了陀罗钵地王国时期（公元7-11世纪）的界石（Sīma）传统。在不同地区的上座部佛教寺院，用来标识修行区域的界标材质各不相同，只有在东南亚的呵叻高原地区才发现大量使用界石的情况。在佛教于公元7世纪传入该地区后长达4个多世纪的时间里，树立界石的场所逐渐增多。普普拉巴特山区保存着世界上数量最多的原址陀罗钵地时期界石，证明了该地区曾盛行这一传统。大量树立的界石和对岩棚的广泛改造，使这一自然景观转变为宗教中心。47座岩棚表面的岩画则是逾2千年来人类居住的例证。

Source UNESCO WH website http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1507

 

Courtesy of SLLiew from Malaysia