chapelpage3

which were named Phra Phuttha Yod Fa Chula Lok and Phra Phuttha Loetla Sulalai. At that time it was deemed impolite to refer to elders by their personal names. Rama I was usually spoken of as the Initial Reign, Rama II as the Middle Reign and Rama III, the Present Reign. Obviously such a nomenclature could not last and by Royal Decree the founder of the dynasty was to be referred to as His Majesty of the image of Phra Phuttha Yod Fa Chula Lok and his successor as His Majesty of the image of Phra Phutta Loetla Sulalai. Rama VI decreed the expediency of referring to his predecessors simply as Rama with due ordinal numbers because all of his predecessors bore the name Rama among other names in the full official Style and Tille. There is one other effigy, the Samphutthapanni Buddha image, held in high veneration and placed in front of the high altar, that was cast by King Mongkut, Rama IV, when he was a monk. The murals within this building are:

(continued next page)