Images were executed in one of four basic postures -- standing, sitting, walking and relining -- and in addition individual images display different mudras, or hand gestures. For example, both hands placed in the lap of the sitting Buddha indicate the meditation pose, whereas if the fingers of the right hand are pointing to the ground the statue represents the Buddha's subduing of Mara (forces of evil). In the standing image, the right hand raised signifies the mudra of "Dispelling Fear".

These and other placing of the hands, as well as the four postures, remain constant throughout Thailand's art history. Stylistic forms, however, do vary and are illustrative of the different schools of sculpture which arose during the course of Thailand's cultural development. These evolved from early Indian influences through the pre-Thai art of the Mon and the Khmer, and on to the Thai schools proper. The latter display considerable variation and range from, for example, the serene and poetic images of the Sukhothai period to the crowned and highly ornamental statues of Ayutthaya times.

The subject of Thai sculpture and its stylistic variations is too complex to describe fully here, though the interested visitor will discern distinctions of form in the various Buddha images he encounters at all temples..

The wat is also a showcase of Thai classical painting, the art form achieving its finest expression in murals. Typically these were painted on all four walls of bots and viharns, though due to the fragile nature of the medium and the ravages of the climate few surviving examples pre-date the 18th century.

All murals were purely didactic in purpose and the classic formula was to decorate the side walls with episodes from the life of the Buddha or his previous incarnations, individual scenes being separated by registers of praying celestial beings. The back wall generally showed a graphic interpretation of the Buddhist cosmology, and the front wall was covered with the scene of Buddha's victory over Mara.

Typically murals lack any attempt at perspective and figures tend to be small, while the entire picture area is 'busy' and filled with detail. Because of the latter convention, artists often completed backgrounds with genre scenes of Thai daily life. These are fascinating both for their content and as areas where the painters display greater self-expression.

Doors and window shutters also sometimes have painted scenes, while all flat surfaces are commonly brilliantly adorned. Especially notable among the decorative arts are mother-of-pearl inlay and gilt on lacquer work which frequently have a high pictorial quality. Coloured glass mosaic is also quite often used and adds to a temple's lavish overall decoration. Brilliant and kaleidoscopic, such adornment is effective, strangely managing to avoid the garish and not distract for the overall ambience of quiet devotion.

Finally in wandering around a temple compound you can come across a number of mythological beings. While high-art sculpture was limited to images of the Buddha, craftsmen had scope in creating minor statuary, representations of creatures which play familiar roles in Thai myths and legends. Among those most commonly seen are the half-man, half-bird Garuda, the mount of the god Vishnu; the Naga, king of serpents, frequently fashioned in the form of balustrades flanking stairways at temple entrances; Yakshas, guardian giants charged with guarding a temple against evil spirits; Kinnaris, graceful beings half-woman and half bird, and Apsaras or celestial nymphs who dance for the delight of the gods.

In many and varied ways the temple affords fascinating scope for approaching and appreciating the very heart of Thai culture. As for Geoffrey Gorer's "knobs" and "twirly-whirly" bits, well, he just has no sense of joy, of that natural exuberance which itself is quintessentially Thai.