Phan Anh Tu – Member of ASF cohort VII th THE SIGNIFICATION OF NAGA IN THAI ARCHITECTURAL AND SCULPTURAL ORNAMENTS Phan Anh Tu Abstract: The Nak (Phaya Nak or Naga) in Thai architectural and sculptural ornaments are an associational achievement between the indigenous serpent cult of the mainland Southeast Asian region and Naga of Indian religions in ancient times. It seems that the remains of indigenous serpent cult being only what told in the Thai folklore. The majority of Thais are predominantly Theravada Buddhist that their serpent worship includes aspects of Buddhism. Introduction Naga is the sacred name of mythical serpent in Southeast Asian and Indian literature. In Thailand, the figure has deeply impacted in aspects of Thai traditional arts, especially in architecture and sculpture. The reference materials related to Naga are very scanty however and it seems that they only concentrate on a few books written by the Thai and foreign scholars. The art historians implicitly confirm that the Naga in Southeast Asian cultures are origined in India. Others, however, have talked briefly about the indigenous serpent cult without proving scientific evidences. Thus, a big question is whether there was a form of indigenous serpent cult existed in Siam 1 peninsular and mainland Southeast Asia. My discourse will be an expectation to answer partially this difficult question. Serpent in indigenous cultures of Thailand and Southeast Asia Serpent as a form of animism The serpent cults were by no means exclusive to India and it seems that the worship of snakes, as symbols of fertility and water, occurred independently in many parts of the world, especially in Southeast Asia where the water culture played a crucial part in the residents’ daily life activities (Michel Freeman and Roger Warner 1987: 124). In Siam peninsular, the 1 The country name was instituted in the Law of the Three Seals by king Rama I in 1787. The name was changed to Thailand in 1939, reverted to Siam in 1946, and again changed to Thailand soon afterwards. Today both names officially apply although Siam is used mainly for auspicious occasions and in royal titles. Siam has geographical, multi - racial, and multi cultural connotations. 1