Vajirananavarorasa

Vajirananavarorasa (also spelled Wachirayan, Watchirayanawarorot, correct Pali spelling: Vajirañāṇavarorasa, , full title Somdet Phramahasamanachao Kromphraya Vajirananavarorasa สมเด็จพระมหาสมณเจ้ากรมพระยาวชิรญาณวโรรส ) (12 April 1860, Bangkok, Thailand - 2 August 1921, Bangkok, Thailand) was the tenth Supreme Patriarch of Thailand from 1910 to 1921. He helped to institutionalize Thai Buddhism. Destined to become "the leading intellectual of his generation in Siam", in the words of the Thai historian David K. Wyatt (cited in Reynolds 1979:xiii), his royal name was Prince Manuṣyanāgamānob (พระองค์เจ้ามนุษยนาคมานพ) ('he who is a nāga among men'). Vajirañāṇavarorasa is the name he received on a gold nameplate together with the Krommamuen rank on 16 March 1882. Early life and education Vajirañana was the 47th child of King Mongkut. He was born in the Grand Palace as the fourth child of Phae, one of King Mongkut's concubines. She died after giving birth to her fifth child, a daughter, when he was one year old. He was then fostered by a maternal relative, Princess Varaseṭhasutā or "Putrī", a daughter of King Rama III, and her mother, a royal concubine named Samaśakti or "Ueng".