500-year-old Buddhist pagoda in Thailand collapses after rain, revealing hidden treasures (video)

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Originally published at: 500-year-old Buddhist pagoda in Thailand collapses after rain, revealing hidden treasures (video) | Boing Boing

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How sad.

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Impermanence being a core concept of Buddhism, this seems somehow appropriate.

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image

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Exactly!

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Besides the notion of impermanence being part of Buddhism, it is worth realizing that a 500 year old wooden structure can only be 500 years old via the “Ship of Theseus” principle where parts get replaced as they rot. That is, while the structure may have been there 500 years, it’s unlikely much if anything in the structure that collapsed was actually 500 years old.

Then again, thanks to the World Wars, a lot of stone cathedrals and the like in Europe are rather younger than you may think as well, having been reconstructed post war from ruins.

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See also, Notre Dame cathedral.

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Depending on the relics, they would have been extremely selective in the construction materials and even tested the density of each beam and exclusively used heartwood teak. Teak beams have lasted in palaces and temples more than 1,000 years. Having said that, if this was truly believed/known to have contained relics of the Buddha himself, I can’t imagine the govt would allow it to be surrounded by a parking lot.

[adding:] Apologies for the cynicism here but, “relics” may → tourism or claims intended to elevate the pagoda’s importance.

If the shutterstock image is of the same structure, that seems to be a sign of water intrusion, if there’s a plant rooting in or vining around the wood.

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From the most excellent documentary “Samsara”, if you’re looking for source.

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Sorry, not true. Europe is full of half-timbered houses small and large with the original timbers still intact, and the earliest are dated to the 13th century by dendrochronology.

Given the roofing remains intact, a wooden roof structure that is well ventilated can last for hundreds of years in temperate climates.

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Also there are wooden temples in Japan dating back as early as the late 7th Century CE (though the amount of original material varies from building to building).

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