Medical and massage inscriptions of Wat Pho
Inscripciones médicas y de masaje de Wat Pho
- Date
- 1832-1841 · confidence medium
- Place
- Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand
- Credited to
- King Rama III and Siamese physicians
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
A collection of slabs and paintings with herbal recipes, massage line (sen) diagrams and pressure points inscribed at Wat Pho during Rama III's restoration. It is the great public encyclopaedia of traditional Thai medicine.
Rama I had already gathered medical texts at the temple in the late 18th century; Rama III had the slabs carved in the 1832-1841 restoration. The efficacy of the techniques is not established by clinical trials.
What it led to
- the Wat Pho Thai massage school
- UNESCO recognition (Memory of the World, 2011)
- revival of traditional Thai medicine