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Officials inspect a bull, and Naga, below, that were among the many sculptures badly damaged by vandals at the Phanom Rung castle in Buri Ram.
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Superstition reigns
Daily Xpress
Published on May 21, 2008
Vandals destroy artefacts during raid to perform a superstitious ritual at Phanom Rung castle
Vandals invaded the historic Phanom Rung castle in Buri Ram early yesterday, destroyed a number of artefacts and mysteriously relocated a phallus in what looked like a superstitious ritual. The phallus was moved one metre from its base and turned to face in a different direction. The mouths of 11 Naga King figures, two lion figures, and two hands of a guardian angel figure were damaged.
Strange spirituality The vandals apparently performed some kind of a ritual inside the temple, but no other items were stolen, said culture office chief Somphong Wiriyakaru. Candles and joss sticks were lit and left in the castle's main chamber, in addition to cigarette butts and plastic glasses. Phanom Rung historic park chief Dusit Thummaphorn said the damage resulted in some monetary loss, but the loss was tremendous in terms of historic value. He said later that only two unspecified genuine artefacts were damaged, while the rest were replicas. Dusit said the area had often been used by people who had their amulets or holy items "re-blessed" in various ceremonies, until he banned all rituals from being performed in the park site last October. The ritual appeared to be a rite to apologise to the temple before the destruction began, although no one has specified a motive for the attack. The genuine artefacts that were destroyed would be remoulded, Dusit said, adding the mouths on the figures were damaged because they were easy targets.
Various suspects Muang Buri Ram police chief Pol Colonel Wichai Sangpraphai said the vandalism could have been due to internal conflicts within the historical park's organisation, from acts of mentally ill people, or by people who had lost benefit from the rituals being banned. He specified a group of people who were banned from blessing the once popular Jatukham Ramathep amulets as prime suspects.
XTRA Rich history>> The Phanom Rung castle was built in the 15th century by Hindu priests. >> It was turned into a Buddhist shrine 300 hundred years later by King Jayavarman VII (1181-1206), who converted to Buddhism.
>> The castle, whose name means 'a large hill', was made from pink sandstone and stands 1,320 metres above sea level.
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