MegalithFringe site
Phimai
DatedEst. 2000 BCE–900 CE
Photo Piwan warawanno · CC BY-SA 4.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
Phimai (Thai: พิมาย) is a district (amphoe) in the northeastern part of Nakhon Ratchasima province, northeastern Thailand. The Atlas catalogues it as an ancient site, and it lies at an elevation of 152.0 m according to the catalogue record.
Evidence of human settlement indicates residence since the prehistoric period, and the area was an ancient Khmer city.
Read on Wikipedia2 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Phimai
The area is fed by the Chakkarat, Khem and Mun rivers, and there is also a source of salt, which is an important resource.
SettingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Phimai districtCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Phimai districtCC BY-SA 4.0
Phimai is a lowland, making it a suitable location for settlement and agriculture. The area is fed by the Chakkarat, Khem and Mun rivers, and there is also a source of salt, which is an important resource.
HistorySources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Phimai districtCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Phimai districtCC BY-SA 4.0
Evidence of human settlement has been found in the Phimai area, indicating residence since the prehistoric period, approximately 1,700–3,000 years ago, with traces continuing until at least 1,500 years ago. The base of the building under Prasat Hin Phimai is made of bricks, so it is assumed that it was probably originally the location of a Buddhist monastery.
Phimai was an ancient Khmer city named Vimai or Vimayapura. The Preah Khan inscription of 1191 records seventeen rest houses with hearths along the road from the Angkorian capital to Vimāya, and five of the seven Sanskrit inscriptions of 1186 recording Jayavarman VII's hospital foundations come from the Nakhon Ratchasima region. A stone pillar dating to the reign of King Suryavarman I names the city Bhirapura, meaning 'strong city'. The rulers of Phimai during the Khmer era were all descendants of the Mahidharapura dynasty, and the city has remained important during Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin times.
Later historySources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Phimai districtCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Phimai districtCC BY-SA 4.0
Mueang Phimai district was established in 1900, with Khun Khachit Sarakam as its first governor. Queen Mother Sriphatcharindra (Saovabha) visited Prasat Phimai and Sai Ngam (ficus forest) in 1911, and six roads were named to commemorate the event. In 1940 the government renamed the district by eliminating the word mueang.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Other prehistoric stone monuments
The Atlas uses the heading "other" for stone monuments that fit none of its other types, and the same article serves for underground chambers that have no regional article. The records are varied. Many are ziggurats, Egyptian temples and pyramids, and Maya and Andean sites, which are treated in their own articles. What remains is a scatter of single sites in many countries whose descriptions do not allow a closer classification.
Several of these are underground. A hypogeum is literally an "underground" temple or tomb, often with niches for cremated remains or loculi for buried remains. An early example is found at the Minoan Bronze Age site of Knossos on Crete, a beehive-shaped vault cut into soft rock. The Hypogeum of Ħal Saflieni in Paola, Malta, is the oldest example of a prehistoric hypogeum, with its earliest phase dated to 3600 to 3300 BCE. It is a complex of underground chambers, halls and passages covering about 500 square metres on three levels, partly carved to imitate temple architecture and containing extensive prehistoric art.
A rock-cut tomb is cut into an existing rock formation, usually a cliff or sloping rock face, and was a common burial form for the wealthy in several parts of the world. Famous clusters are in Egypt, Iran, Lycia in Turkey, Petra in Jordan and Sicily. Phrygian rock-cut tombs such as the Midas monument date to about 700 BCE, and Etruscan ones to about 500 BCE.
The general rule for these records is that the type tells you how a monument was made, not who made it or when. Dating is taken from the source for each site where a source gives one, and otherwise left as a broad range.
When visiting, read the site's own description first, since the Atlas can offer only a general frame.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Megalith, Wikipedia: Hypogeum, Wikipedia: Rock-cut tomb, Wikipedia: Stele · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 1191
The Preah Khan inscription of 1191 records seventeen rest houses with hearths along the road from the Angkorian capital to Vimāya, and five of the seven Sanskrit inscriptions of 1186 recording Jayavarman VII's hospital foundations come from the Nakhon Ratchasima region.
Source - 1900
Mueang Phimai district was established in 1900. Khun Khachit Sarakam (ขุนขจิตสารกรรม) was the first governor.
Source - 1911
Queen Mother Sriphatcharindra (Saovabha) visited Prasat Phimai and Sai Ngam (ficus forest) in 1911. The government officers and people renovated the city for the royal visit, and named six roads to commemorate the event.
Source - 1940
In 1940 the government renamed the district by eliminating the word mueang.
Source
Photographs
3 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 2000 BCE–900 CEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypological estimate, not a date for this site: a other in Southeast Asia is normally dated between 2000 BCE and 900 CE (Atlas typological table).Source for this date
Measured facts
- Location
- Northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, ThailandSource: Location
- Khmer name
- Vimai or VimayapuraSource: Khmer name
- Inscribed name
- Bhirapura, meaning 'strong city'Source: Inscribed name
- Preah Khan inscription
- Records seventeen rest houses with hearths along the road from the Angkorian capital to VimāyaSource: Preah Khan inscription
- Earlier building
- The brick base under Prasat Hin Phimai is assumed to mark a former Buddhist monasterySource: Earlier building
- District administration
- Mueang Phimai district was established in 1900 and renamed in 1940Source: District administration
Where it stands
Thailand
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 15°13′14″ N, 102°29′09″ EFor a GPS or map app: 15.22056, 102.48583
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
3 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q476403wikidata.org
- 02Fringe claim sourceen.wikipedia.org
- 03Wikipedia (en)en.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Phra Sotorn.JPGPiwan warawannoCC BY-SA 4.0
- Phanurangsi Sawangwong (5).jpgUnknown author Unknown authorPublic domain
- Phimai City Layout.pngThomson WaltCC0
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Phimai district" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (English): Phimai districtCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q476403CC0
- Fringe claim sourceCC BY-SA 4.0