Moral Entertainment - The Buddhist Hell Parks of Thailand

Visiting Hell parks is a popular pastime in contemporary Thailand. Situated near Buddhist temples, these gruesome sculpture gardens depict the Buddhist vision of Hell. These grotesque and violent sculptures are usually seen as an oddity and a form of low art. Perhaps for this reason, they are rarely...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Husarski, Roman (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wydawn. Uniw. Jagiellońskiego 2021
In: Studia religiologica
Year: 2021, Volume: 54, Issue: 3, Pages: 195-216
Further subjects:B piekielne parki
B Buddhist hell
B political science of religion
B morality and religion
B Thai Buddhism
B sztuka buddyjska
B moralność i religia
B politologia religii
B Hell parks
B Buddhist art
B tajski buddyzm
B piekło buddyjskie
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Summary:Visiting Hell parks is a popular pastime in contemporary Thailand. Situated near Buddhist temples, these gruesome sculpture gardens depict the Buddhist vision of Hell. These grotesque and violent sculptures are usually seen as an oddity and a form of low art. Perhaps for this reason, they are rarely studied by scholars. This article focuses on the parks as modern entertainment. Usually found in rural areas, these spots try to answer the challenges of the commercialisation and globalisation of Thai society. A detailed analysis of four Hell parks, Wang Saen Suk, Wat Pa Lak Roi, Wat Pa Non Sawan and Wat Pa Thewapithak, shows that these religious amusement parks serve not only as means of entertainment but are also places of Buddhist morality.
ISSN:2084-4077
Contains:Enthalten in: Studia religiologica
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.4467/20844077SR.21.013.16550