From local heritage to world legacy
Sitting in front of a computer for a long period of time, the body can easily get tired and sore. Indulging yourself with a one or two-hour massage seems to be the easiest way to remedy this.
At Wat Po located on the legendary Rattanakosin Island, traditional Thai massage has been inherited from records dating back to the reign of King Rama I, more than 200 years ago. The records also display images of 80 Ruesi Dudton postures, literally translated as contortion hermits.
Hermits in 80 different postures can be found in the form of statues placed in different areas of Wat Po. The knowledge from the past was originally part of the traditional lifestyle of Thai people in the old days. The knowledge has been passed on and inherited by word of mouth before it was gathered in an ancient inscription. It was later adapted to different postures for traditional Thai massage that we use today.
Visitors who go to Wat Po in the morning will get to see a massage teacher lead a group of students who come to the temple to learn to be masseuses doing 18 postures of Ruesi Dudton in order to do stretching exercises before the massage lessons start. Acupressure massage from the old inscription and Ruesi Dudton stretching techniques are the secret skills that make traditional Thai massage at Wat Po famous.
Beside the traditional techniques, child massage is another course that Wat Po’s traditional massage school offers. The course has been adapted from Pathomchinda scripture, which is a textbook concerning knowledge related to motherhood and children.
Besides methods to develop children’s minds and bodies, massage can also help strengthen the relationship between mother and child. The technique is also used as a tool to develop the social skills among children with autism.
Doris Talde-Wolff, a 47-year-old Filipina studying child massage at Wat Po, told us she will bring the knowledge and skills she learns back to use with children in Luxemburg where she is living. She said children in Europe are quite stressed growing up amid technology. Having physical contact with other humans will help the children relax and strengthen relationships in the family.
The knowledge of traditional Thai massage has become well known and taught to the public for 55 years with the prominent feature to heal the body without using any medication as part of the therapy. Traditional Thai massage techniques from Wat Po might soon become the new world heritage certified by Unesco if the attempt to register the technique is successful.