Thailand, Kamphaeng Phet – Wat Pa Mue Nok (00:00:24)

Wat Pa Mued Nok, the ‘Black Forest Temple’, is notable for its carved laterite images of the Buddha. Typically, Buddha images with a core of laterite (a type of soft river stone) were very roughly carved, with fine surface detail added to an outer layer of plaster. While the same technique was employed here, the sculptors added additional surface detail to the laterite core such as the outlines of noses, mouths, and eyes. In the centuries since these Buddha images were first installed, the outer coating of plaster has completely fallen away, leaving only the laterite cores as witness to the artists’ skills.