Overview

The Emerald Buddha, Phra Kaeo Morakot in Thai, is the palladium of Thailand: a small seated Buddha image, about 66 centimetres high, carved from a single block of deep green semi-precious stone and enthroned high on a gilded pedestal in the ordination hall of Wat Phra Kaew, the royal chapel within the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Despite its English name the stone is not emerald but jade or green jasper; the name refers to the colour. The image depicts the Buddha in meditation and is dressed in one of three gold seasonal costumes, changed by the reigning monarch at the turn of the hot, rainy and cool seasons in a ceremony believed to bring the country good fortune.

No one but the King of Thailand may touch the image. As the dynastic talisman of the ruling Chakri house and the most venerated Buddha figure in the kingdom, the Emerald Buddha carries a political weight comparable to that of the Sacred Tooth in Sri Lanka: possession has long been bound up with legitimate sovereignty. The object's identity is not in question; what is legendary is the story the tradition tells of where it came from.