Thai temple art and architecture

Temples served as a stabilizing center in these communities because their sacred teachings became a basis of authority and boundaries, their precincts became places of instruction, their regimes of common ownership of property formed them into economic centers, and their functions allowed them to serve at the heart of these communities in a variety of ways.

In a central Thai temple, the lower tiers reach a short distance beyond the top roof at the gable ends.

Most decorations are attached to the bargeboard, the long, thin panel on the edge of the roof at the gable ends.

Its blade-like projection called bai raka suggest both Nāga fins and the feathers of Garuda.

Its lower finial is called a hang hong, which usually takes the form of a Nāga's head turned up and facing away from the roof.

Perched on the peak of the lamyong is the large curving ornament called a Chofah, which resembles the beak of a bird, perhaps representing Garuda.