Mulasasana

Mulasasana (Thai: ตำนานมูลศาสนา), also known as Mulasasanavaṃsa (Thai: มูลสาสนาวังสะ), is a Lan Na Buddhist literature composed by Phra Phutthakam and Phra Phutthayan between 1456 and 1510 during the reigns of Tilokaraj and Kaew. It was written at Wat Suan Dok, and another version written at Wat Pa Daeng reflects the rivalry of the two sects in Lan Na.

The text consists of two parts: the first recounts the life of the Buddha, and the second concerns the history of Buddhism in Lanna. Its purpose was to link the Lanna royal lineage to that of the Buddha, praising King Tilokaraj both in worldly and religious terms. It is written in Northern Thai language prose using the Tai Tham script on palm-leaf manuscripts, and it spans 10 fascicles. The narrative often begins like a folktale, incorporating the views of contemporary scholars, Dharma teachings, local legends, and Jātaka stories. Events are summarised before details are given and concluded at the end. Examples include the enshrinement of the Buddha relics in Chiang Mai and the six boundary-marking (sīmā) ceremonies of Wat Suan Dok.

The original palm-leaf manuscripts bear the title Mulasasanavaṃsa. The name Tamnan Mulasasana was adopted when the Fine Arts Department of Thailand produced the first standard Thai translation in 1937. This edition was translated by Sut Srisomwong and Phrom Khamala, two senior scholars of the National Library's Literary Division.