The book of the “Three Worlds” (Traiphum, Thonburi, 1776; held at the Museum für Asiatische Kunst Berlin, inv. no. II 650) is one of the oldest and most beautiful illuminated manuscripts of Thai book art. The 33-metre-long leporello manuscript from the 18th century comes from Thailand (formerly Siam) and consists of richly coloured illustrations of Buddhist cosmology on both sides, with a number of Buddhist legends incorporated into this cosmological schema.
The folding book is undoubtedly a highlight of art and cultural history. However, the manuscript also poses considerable challenges for the viewer: virtually all of the illustrations are accompanied by inscriptions that require special expertise to be deciphered. This is because they are written in different languages (Thai, Pāli) and two different scripts (Thai in Thai script, and Pāli in Khom script; both in the royal scribal handwriting of the 18th century). Without a proper reading of the inscriptions, the paintings cannot be fully comprehended. For this reason, there has been a longstanding interest in studying the inscriptions, ideally hand in hand with art-historical research into the imagery presented in this leporello.
The newly established Collaborative Museum (CoMuse) programme, launched at the Ethnologisches Museum and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst Berlin in early 2023, has now made it possible to carry out this long-awaited work: Thai manuscriptologist Dr Peera Panarut and curator Martina Stoye have been working together on the Traiphum illuminated manuscript since October 2023.
Dr Peera Panarut has studied a number of classical languages and graduated from Bangkok’s renowned Chulalongkorn University with a degree in Thai Language and Literature. In 2013, he came to the University of Hamburg, where he went on to conduct research on Thai manuscripts and inscriptions as part of the Cluster of Excellence “Understanding Written Artefacts”. He visits archives, museums and libraries throughout the world in order to study Thai manuscripts and is an eminent authority on matters pertaining to Thai writing culture.
A six-metre section of the manuscript was jointly selected for the pilot project, showing the idyllic yet secluded world of the Himavanta Forest with its magnificent lakes, animals and plants, the course of the southern stream from the Himavanta forest into the realm of the human world, and many jatakas (pre-birth stories of the Buddha) embedded in it.
Only the expert readings of the inscriptions by the Thai project partner provide a solid understanding of the countless illustrations featured in the illuminated manuscript and have breathed new life into the artefact – not just for experts, but also for the broad spectrum of museum visitors.
A six-metre-long display case was specially made for the presentation of this outstanding work. This allows various sections of the 33-metre-long manuscript to be displayed one by one, as soon as they have been processed by the research team. The display can be viewed on the third floor of the Humboldt Forum, Room 311, “Religious Art from Southeast Asia”.
The results of the collaborative research project are presented here first as a series of short texts, which are exhibited in the display case alongside the manuscript; in addition, they are also being presented in the context of exhibition talks, specialist lectures and research publications. The two researchers are currently working together on an in-depth publication about the six-metre section of manuscript, which has been on display since June 2024.
The collaboration partners considered it a great honour and an outstanding moment when Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visited the Humboldt Forum with a delegation at the beginning of July 2024 and – among other things – was shown the work being conducted on the Traiphum manuscript.
From the beginning of 2025, the continuation of the collaborative research will also be supported by third-party funding from the University of Hamburg. This will enable two further six-metre sections of the Traiphum manuscript to be newly researched and presented to the public in 2025. By the end of 2025, the entire illuminated manuscript will be digitised and can also be viewed online.
Project lead and cooperation partner (in the field of Buddhist art history): Martina Stoye (curator for the Art of South and Southeast Asia, Museum für Asiatische Kunst)
Cooperation partner (in the field of Thai language and manuscript studies): Dr Peera Panarut (until 12/2024 principal investigator at the Center for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, in the Cluster of Excellence “Understanding Written Artefacts”); from 01/2025, researcher at Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, financed by funds by the above mentioned Cluster of Excellence at the University of Hamburg
Digitisation (freelance): Patrick Held
Project funding: from 10/2023 to 06/2024: CoMuse project (Ethnologisches Museum/Museum für Asiatische Kunst); from 01/2025 onward additionally financed by the Cluster of Excellence “Understanding Written Artefacts”, University of Hamburg
Project timeline: Scientific research conducted in an interdisciplinary collaboration with Dr Peera Panarut: Phase 1, “Six Metres of Traiphum”, October 2023 to June 2024; Phase 2, “Decoding the Berlin Traiphum”, January 2025 to December 2025 (external funds); digitisation with Patrick Held, January 2025 to December 2025 (funded by CoMuse).