Wat Sema Muang

The "Ligor inscription" was found at Nakhon Si Thammarat. It has been dubbed the "Ligor inscription", as "Ligor" being the name given by Europeans to the region in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The inscription was found on a sandstone temple boundary stone (Bai Sema). It is written in Sanskrit language, Post-Pallava script and bears the date of 775 CE. One side of the inscription (Ligor A), also known as Wiang Sak inscription, refers to the Illustrious Great Monarch (śrīmahārāja) belonging to the ‘Lord of the Mountain’ dynasty (śailendravaṁśa), which is also mentioned in four Sanskrit inscriptions from Central Java. The other side (Ligor B) refers to the founding of several Buddhist sanctuaries by a king of Srivijaya. The Ligor B inscription was probably written by Mahārāja dyāḥ Pañcapaṇa kariyāna Paṇaṃkaraṇa, king of the Shailendra dynasty.

Srivijaya is the name of a kingdom whose centre was located in the modern city of Palembang in South Sumatra province, Indonesia. The Ligor inscription is testimony to an expansion of Srivijaya's power to the peninsula.

On the front, the first lines of the inscription sing the praises of the greatness of the king of the Srivijaya kingdom. The following part mentions his royal command to a senior monk named Jayanta to construct 3 stone sanctuaries to offer as the abodes of the Lord Buddha, Bodhisatva Padmapāni and Bodhisatva Vajrapāṇi. When the senior monk passed away, a monk named Adhimukti, who was his disciple, built the last two sanctuaries nearby. On the reverse, the inscription says that the previously mentioned king of Śrivijaya kingdom was king “Śrī Mahā Rājā” of Śailendra of Java. He surpassed all kings and was revered as a second Lord Viṣṇu.

The stone [Wat Sema Mueang Inscription (N.S. 9)] is at present exhibited at the Bangkok National Museum. A copy is found at Wat Sema Mueang in Wiang Sak of Nakhon Sri Thammarat. [Sources: Wikipedia, and The Inscriptions in Thailand Database.]

Ayutthaya Historical Research