The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

If you have ever been to Thailand, or seen almost any photo coverage of Thailand, you will have seen images inside Thai Buddhist Wats (temples) with large gold Buddha statues.  If you have ever wondered, "what are these made of?" . . . I can answer: this one is made of gold and silver amalgam.  In 2005 I had the rare opportunity of being present during the casting of this particular very large Buddha, as well as all of the "smaller" ones displayed in front.  I was also fortunate enough to donate some of the gold/silver amalgam used in their casting as well as being invited to the dedication ceremony of their installation in a Chiang Mai wat, northern Thailand.

In The Beginning: The Casting Process

The process of casting a golden Buddha takes place at a secret location and begins with these gold and silver beads. This is amalgam gold.  Thousands of these little pouches of gold amalgam were purchased and brought to the casting ceremony by the invited friends and family of the man who commissioned, and financed the majority of the cost of the castings. Some packets were composed more gold than silver beads.  This was our contribution.

The gold/silver amalgam is then thrown into a red hot, charcoal-fired crucible for melting, with a prayer and a wish.

The furnaces are taken to a very high temperature.

Many workmen tended the furnaces and crucibles.

The furnaces were driven by electric fans to reach such high temperatures.

There were many, many furnaces melting a very large amount of gold/silver amalgam.  Because of security concerns, we were sworn to never reveal the location of the casting.  There were millions of dollars of gold and silver in this one location that day.

When the amalgam has reached the required temperature, workers remove the red hot crucibles from the furnaces and take them to the various molds for pouring. 

The molds for casting the Buddha images, like these "smaller" ones, must be heated to a high temperature so that the hot liquid gold/silver amalgam will flow all the way to the bottom before it can solidify.  The Buddhas are cast upside down . . . and are made mostly hollow with a plug on the inside.

Pouring the molten gold amalgam into the pre-heated mold.

There were many of the "smaller" (2-3 foot tall) Buddha image molds to pour that day.

Some of the hot molds were coated with a lime wash after pouring.

A worker beginning to cool off the coals after the amalgam has been poured.

Flower blessings by the gathered monks.

Heated molds of many sizes, including the one for the giant statue.

Lifting the red hot crucibles up for pouring.

One crucible at a time . . . 

Hard, hot, heavy labor . . . 

Truly one of the most fantastic visual experiences of my life.

The whole process in one photo.

Pouring gold!!!

Don't spill any!

All sizes of Buddha images being poured on this day.

Visually fantastic . . . conceptually fantastic . . . spiritually fantastic.

In The End: The Buddha Dedication

Many months later all the people who had donated silver and gold to the casteing of the many Buddhas, big and small, travelled to Chiang Mai where the monks performed a dedicating ceremony of the golden Buddhas. I was present.

All those who donated sat in the wat, connected to the new Buddha statuary with strings.  We were all "of one mind."

A little girl enjoying he moment . . . 

A special moment for the man who contributed most of the gold and silver, many millions of dollars worth, to cast all of these statues, and the builder of the temple to house them.  Kneeling to the Buddhas, he offers respect to the life and teachings of the Buddha.  Very touching moment for him and all of us in attendance.

Every one of these Buddha images were cast on that morning many months ago.

I do not know which of these Buddhas hold my silver and gold contribution . . . so I must assume all of them.

I still feel connect to these Buddha statues, then as now.

We left Chiang Mai happy and fulfilled.