อัตลักษณ์เชิงช่างเทริดโนราในภาคใต้ The Identity of Trird Nora’s Artisan School in the south of Thailand.

Abstract

This research aims to study the identities of the Serd Nora (a pointed headdress crown), and the beliefs of the artisan schools in the South. Qualitative research was used by observation and interviews with 3 main informants’ groups, consisting of 4 artisan schools in Songkhla province, Trang province, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, and Phatthalung province in the amount of 5 people, 6 senior Nora teachers, and 6 Serd Nora specialists, totaling 17 people. The concepts used as a guideline for the analysis are identity and belief.

The research results found that the Serd Nora (the crown) identities of each southern artisan are distinctive. Mr. Aon’s artisan school in Songkhla is remarkable by the decoration of the structure with the sculpture of the Gardenia pattern, Thai golden stripe pattern, and circle pattern. Mr. Loon’s artisan school in Trang is distinguished by making a 4-tiered layer of the crown and painting a checker plate pattern around the structure of it. Mr. Wack's artisan school in Nakhon Si Thammarat is outstanding by using red zebra wood to make the top of the crown, as they believe that it is fascinating. Meanwhile, the crown layer is decorated with swaying flowers, the fringe structure is decorated with molding of the Rak Roi pattern and Ta Khao Phong pattern, and the front framing of the fringe is made into a shape called a hair wavy line. Mr. Lai’s artisan school in Phatthalung is notable for the use of auspicious wood types of jackfruit wood and Indian mulberry wood to make the crown layer. The top of the thread was dug in the shape of a lotus flower. The roof structure is decorated with dew drop molding and red dots, which the artisan had called art writing. For the beliefs of every artisan school, we have found that they believe in the auspicious wood that is used to make the crown. The patterns of each school also reflect their beliefs. Mr. Aon uses the Gardenia pattern, which resembles the 'Om' symbol, to represent good luck, while Mr. Loon uses the same 'Om' pattern to define success and prosperity. Mr. Wack uses the Pra Jam Yam flower (the name of a Thai decorative pattern) in all 4 directions or angles in all 4 directions, as it compares to the Brahma. Mr. Lai focuses on using the pattern of dew drops to convey popularity and charisma.