Narisara Nuwattiwong

Biography

Naris liked designing a funeral pavilion more than any other building, one that would be burned a few days after the ceremony. He explained it this way: the thing is temporary and will be taken down, so one can try any idea and make mistakes, and the only thing to watch is the cost. Permanent architecture, by contrast, he thought a risky business: what is built stays standing as a monument to shame if it turns out badly.

He was born on 28 April 1863 in Bangkok and was given the name Chitcharoen at birth. His father, King Mongkut (Rama IV), died when the boy was five. His mother, Pannarai, belonged to the royal family. He himself remembered his father sitting in a swivel chair, dressed in bright red. He was taught by Western missionaries, who encouraged his interest in the fine arts. In 1885 Chulalongkorn (Rama V) gave him a title and the name Narisara Nuwattiwong, and later raised him to the rank of “chao fa”. His career ran through the ministries. In 1889 he became Minister of Public Works; from 1892 to 1894 he headed the treasury; and in 1894, when the old Kalahom department was turned into a modern war ministry, he became its first minister, serving until 1899. From 1896 to 1899 he also commanded the army, and in 1898–1899 the navy as well. In 1899 he returned to the Ministry of Public Works, which he led until 1905. Later he served as Minister of the Palace. In 1909, because of a heart condition, he left government service, but he went on carrying out private commissions for King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), designing, for example, the urn and the gold enamelled pavilion for the ashes of Chulalongkorn.

From 1893 he designed seals and crests for the new ministries: the mythical lion Rajasiha for the Ministry of the Interior, a bird of paradise for the Ministry of Finance, Ganesha for the Fine Arts Department. The Garuda on the seal of the kingdom is also his work. The last, in 1947, was the seal of the Bangkok city administration, showing Indra on the elephant Erawan.

His main building, to my mind, is Wat Benchamabophit, the “Marble Temple”: the ordination hall (ubosot) of 1899 is faced with Italian marble, and its appearance combines Thai, European and Chinese elements. Next to it, to his design, stands the temple school building, begun in 1902, this time in a European style. He also designed the ubosot of Wat Rachathiwat, where his father had spent part of his time as a monk; he oversaw the moving of the Vimanmek Palace from Ko Si Chang to the Dusit Palace (inaugurated on 27 March 1901); and he restored a Buddha statue found at Si Satchanalai, of which only the head, hands and feet survived (cast in 1913, consecrated on 2 November 1915). The statue of King Rama I at the foot of the Phra Phutthayotfa Bridge is also his.

He painted in oils as well: scenes from the Ayutthaya chronicles, for example the death of Queen Suriyothai on an elephant, and a painting of the sun chariot on the ceiling of a throne hall. He wrote poems and plays for the theatre, composed music, and played the Thai ranat, the xylophone of the traditional orchestra. He is credited with the words of the first version of the royal anthem “Sansoen Phra Barami”. He wrote many letters, among them to Prince Damrong; these were later read as a reference work on language and customs.

In 1925 King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) appointed him to the Supreme Council of State. In 1934–1935 Naris was regent for the king, who was undergoing treatment in England. When in 1935 Prajadhipok abdicated and the nine-year-old Ananda Mahidol was chosen as king, Naris declined to serve as regent again, citing his age.

He died in Bangkok on 10 March 1947. The cremation took place at Sanam Luang on 19 April 1950, on the same pavilion that had been built for Ananda Mahidol.

In 1963, on the centenary of his birth, UNESCO named him among the outstanding figures of the year.