In Thai Buddhist material culture and folkloric practice, the salika thai amulet (known in Thai as nok salika or sarika, นกสาลิกา / นกสาริกา) occupies a distinct place among non-anthropomorphic talismans (khrueang rang) [1][10][11]. Unlike votive tablets depicting the historical Buddha or senior monastic masters, a Salika piece typically takes the form of a single carved bird, a facing pair of birds (salika khu), a pressed herbal-powder plaque, or a miniature rolled metal scroll (takrut salika) carried in a wax case or pendant frame [10][11][15][20]. Across regional Thai lineages, the motif draws upon classical Pali and Sanskrit avian imagery, Himavanta forest cosmology, and monastic homiletic metaphors linking the mynah bird's articulate voice with agreeable speech (piyavaca) and social goodwill (metta mahaniyom) [1][7][8][16].
Understanding this class of amulet requires separating three overlapping layers: the natural and textual identity of the bird in Indic and Siamese literature, the ritual botany and metallurgy used to craft physical pieces, and the 20th- and 21st-century monastic and lay lineages documented in Thai periodicals [1][10][11][13].
Etymology, Ornithology, and Textual Roots of Nok Salika
The Thai word salika (สาลิกา or สาริกา) derives from the Pali noun sālikā (sāḷikā / sāḷiyā) and Epic Sanskrit śārikā or sārikā, denoting the mynah bird [1][2]. In the Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary, sālikā is glossed as the maina bird and often paired with suka (Sanskrit śuka), the parrot, as both species imitated human speech in ancient courts [1][2][5]. In the Pali Canon, the bird appears in the Samyutta Nikaya (S i.190; Theragatha 1, 1232) and multiple Jataka stories (J i.429, J v.110, J vi.421, 425) [1]. In the Maha-Ummagga Jataka (Jataka No. 546, the Mahosadha Jataka), a palace sāḷikā bird figures in the narrative of the minister Mahosadha at Mithila under King Vedeha [3].
In Sanskrit treatises, the Carakasamhita (Sutrasthana 27) and Susrutasamhita classify śārikā among Pratuda ("pecker" birds) and Janghala (dry-forest creatures), while Hamsadeva's 13th-century Mrgapaksisastra identifies it with the hill myna (Gracula religiosa indica) [2]. Raghunatha's 17th-century Bhojanakutuhala records the belief that a captive śārikā cries out (utkrosanti) at poisoned food [2].
In Thai ornithology, nok salika refers to mynas (family Sturnidae) native to South and Southeast Asia, chiefly the common myna (Acridotheres tristis) and hill myna (Gracula religiosa, called nok khun thong in central Thai and nok iang kham in northern Thai) [4][5]. Described in 1760 by Mathurin Jacques Brisson, named Paradisea tristis by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 from Pondicherry, and placed in Acridotheres by Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1816, the common myna has a brown body, black hooded head, and yellow bill, legs, and eye-patch [4]. Common mynas pair for life, lay four to six eggs, and mimic whistles and speech [4]. Both lifelong pair-bonding and vocal mimicry inform paired nok salika amulets and the phrase salika lin thong ("golden-tongued Salika") [4][5][10][16].
Himavanta Cosmology and the Homiletic Metaphor
Thai temple muralists, poets, and carvers place the idealized Salika bird in the mythical Himavanta (Pa Himmapan, ป่าหิมพานต์) forest [6][7]. In the Sukhothai cosmological treatise Traibhumikatha (Traiphum Phra Ruang) attributed to Phaya Lithai (Phra Maha Thammaracha I) of Si Satchanalai, the cosmos comprises three planes (Kamaphumi, Rupaphumi, and Arupaphumi) [6][7]. At the foot of Mount Sumeru, Himavanta spans 3,000 yojana in area (one yojana is about 10 miles or 16 km) and 9,000 yojana in circumference, with 84,000 peaks and seven great lakes: Anotatta, Kannamunda, Rathakara, Chaddanta, Kunala, Mandakini, and Sihappapata, with Lake Anotatta ringed by five 200-yojana peaks [7]. In mural art, Himavanta birds feed on sacred fruits and fill the canopy with song [7][19].
The Salika bird is also a classical metaphor in Thai Buddhist homiletics [8]. A 2022 study in the Journal of Applied Psychology and Buddhism for Society documents the early-Rattanakosin preaching lineage at Wat Prayurawongsawas Worawihan in Thonburi called lila salika pon yuea (ลีลาสาลิกาป้อนเหยื่อ), the "Salika bird feeding its young" sermon style [8]. It compares a monk's exposition to a parent Salika bird portioning food to match what its fledgling can digest, adapting Dhamma instruction across four canonical modes (sandassana, samadapana, samuttejana, sampahamsana) and the threefold training (sila, samadhi, panna) [8].
Ritual Botany and Material Forms of a Salika Thai Amulet
When craftsmen and monastic lineages produce a physical salika thai amulet, material selection follows symbolic correspondences in Thai ethnobotany and metallurgy [9][10][19][20]. Five primary formats are documented:
1. Carved Parasitic Wood (Mai Kafak Rak)
Traditional wood-carved salika lin thong figures use kafak rak (กาฝากรัก), a parasitic mistletoe growing on a host rak shrub (Calotropis gigantea, giant milkweed) [10]. Thai ritual botany distinguishes rak son (รักซ้อน, with layered white-green blossoms) from rak la (รักลา or ton thudong, with purple blossoms) [10]. Because the Thai word rak (รัก) is homophonous with "love," the plant carries an auspicious name (nam mongkhon), though domestic custom avoids planting it inside house yards due to its irritating sap [10]. When parasitic mistletoe takes root on rak son or dark-sapped rak yai, carvers harvest the branch for Salika Lin Thong birds and Ka Chap Lak crows, while rak son roots are carved into Phra Phakawam images [10].
2. Pressed Herbal and Chalk Powders (Nuea Phong)
A second category of sarika bird amulet is pressed in moulds from sacred powders (nuea phong) [10][11]. Dried leaves and blossoms of rak son are ground into phong itthije (chalk powder made by writing and erasing Pali formulas) and phong na ok taek [10][11]. In addition, a 2021 botanical survey of the genus Kaempferia (family Zingiberaceae) in Maha Sarakham Province identified Kaempferia gilbertii W.Bull. under the vernacular name Salika Lin Thong (สาริกาลิ้นทอง), cultivated as an auspicious plant (phuet mongkhon) associated in local belief with commerce and negotiation [9]. Pressed-powder Salika plaques combine flower pollens (keson dokmai), parasitic woods, chalk powders, and beeswax (si phueng) into low-relief tablets [11].
3. Paired-Bird Plaques (Salika Khu) and Painted Reliefs
In late 20th- and early 21st-century issues, moulded plaques depicting two birds facing one another among floral scrolls (salika khu, สาริกาคู่) or flanking deva figures gained wide circulation across Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong [14][15]. These plaques are pressed from scented herbal-mineral pastes and finished in polychrome enamels or gold leaf [14][15].
4. Miniature Rolled Scrolls (Takrut Salika) and Lip-Wax Containers
In Thai amulet terminology, salika also serves as a size classifier denoting the smallest miniature grade of an object, named after the small forest bird [18][19]. A takrut salika (ตะกรุดสาลิกา) is a tiny rolled yantra scroll of gold, silver, or copper foil [16][20][21]. Such scrolls are carried inside a small round box of consecrated beeswax ointment (talap si phueng), worn on a chain, or embedded into the base or reverse of a Buddha image [16][18][20][21].
5. "Salika-Scale" Miniature Carvings and Blades (Suea Salika and Mit Akhom Salika)
Collectors also encounter the modifier Salika on non-avian talismans [18][19]. In the carved tiger-fang lineage of Luang Pho Pan (Phrakhru Phiphat Nirothakit) of Wat Mongkhon Kothawas (Wat Bang Hia) in Khlong Dan, Samut Prakan Province, a hollow tiger canine was sectioned into four or five pieces [18]. While larger sections became Suea Yai and Suea Klang, the tiny solid tip was carved into a miniature Suea Salika (เสือสาริกา), inscribed on the base with yant ko ya (na khamuat) and rue-ruea and kept in a lip-wax box [18]. Similarly, for his 62nd birthday on 17 January B.E. 2557 (2014), Phra Phiphit Phatthanathon (Luang Pho Somchai) of Wat Pariwat Ratchasongkhram in Yannawa, Bangkok, issued nine-metal Suea Salika tigers and one-inch Mit Akhom Salika ritual knives forged from Wat Pariwat alloy and Nam Phi iron by master smith Sala Buntan Sitthiphaisan of Hang Chat, Lampang [19].
Documented Monastic and Lay Lineages
Several 20th- and 21st-century masters are documented in Thai amulet journalism for their Salika creations and related rites [11][12][13][14].
Luang Pho Sanit Yassindharo of Wat Lam Bua Loi (Nakhon Nayok)
One closely studied powder issue is the Nok Salika Chap Pak Long (นกสาลิกาจับปากโลง, "Salika perching on the coffin rim") or Nok Salika Long Rang (นกสาลิกาหลงรัง) by Luang Pho Sanit Yassindharo of Wat Lam Bua Loi, Nakhon Nayok Province [11][12]. As documented by Laem Chanphisalo in Komchadluek (2016), Luang Pho Sanit compounded the batch from 108 parasitic woods (kafak 108), 108 flower pollens (keson dokmai 108), phong itthije, erased-yantra chalk powders, and beeswax, consecrating the birds inside a coffin until wild mynahs perched along the coffin rim [11]. Surviving pieces remain prized among collectors of Nakhon Nayok and Prachinburi lineages [11][12].
The Lower Isan Lineage: Ajarn Pleng Bunyuen and Luang Pho Sawat Phumisaro
In Surin, Buriram, and Ubon Ratchathani, Salika lore is transmitted as both an amulet and a gold-leaf inscription rite [13]. A 2014 Komchadluek profile by Traithep Kraingu documents Luang Pho Sawat Phumisaro of Wat Pa Saen Udom in Mueang District, Ubon Ratchathani (holder of Nak Tham Ek and Pali Parian Tham 3) [13]. In B.E. 2537 (1994), at age forty, he became the first monastic disciple to inherit the notebooks of Surin lay master Ajarn Pleng Bunyuen of Tha Tum District, while also studying under Luang Pu Rit Rattanachoto of Buriram, Pho Khru Kan, Pho Khru Thom, and Luang Pu Si [13].
This lineage divides the Salika corpus into Salika Khap Yuea (สาลิกาคาบเหยื่อ), Salika Long Rang (สาลิกาหลงรัง), and Salika Khuen Tham (สาลิกาคืนถ้ำ), alongside long na na thong gold-leaf application [13]. For disciples born on Wednesday night (Rahu day), Luang Pho Sawat chants Phra Chao Poet Lok before applying gold leaf and concludes by teaching the Five Precepts [13].
Kruba Krissana Intawanno of Samnak Song Weluwan (Nakhon Ratchasima)
Among collectors in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, contemporary interest in the salika thai amulet was shaped by Kruba Krissana Intawanno of Samnak Song Weluwan (Ban Khlong Krathing, Tambon Thai Samakkhi, Wang Nam Khiao District, Nakhon Ratchasima) [14][15]. Reports in Komchadluek (2011) and MGR Online (2013) note that his Thep Chamlaeng Phamon and Thep Salika / Salika Khu plaques ranked him among the four most collected living Thai monks in Singapore alongside Luang Pho Koon Parisuttho, Luang Pu Hong Phrompanyo, and Luang Pho Phun [14][15].
Embedded Takrut Salika in Classic Issues
Miniature takrut salika scrolls also serve as authenticating markers inside major amulets [20][21]. Art historian Ram Watcharapradit notes that Luang Pu Tim Issariko of Wat Lahan Rai (Ban Khai District, Rayong) pressed paired takrut salika khu (ตะกรุดสาลิกาคู่) into the reverse of select first-block large-mould Phra Khun Phaen Phong Phrai Kuman tablets in mid-B.E. 2515 (1972) [21]. On 7 November B.E. 2556 (2013), Luang Pho Ruay Pasathiko of Wat Tako (Phachi District, Ayutthaya) consecrated 2,881 Luang Pu Thuat Phim Poet Lok images for his 92nd birthday (72nd vassa), embedding gold takrut salika into 100 silver pieces and silver takrut salika into 2,781 nawaloha pieces [20].
Sacred Tattoos, Chants (Katha), and Ethical Precepts
In the Thai sacred tattoo (sak yant) tradition, the motif is known as Yant Maha Sane Salika (ยันต์มหาเสน่ห์สาลิกา) [17]. A 2021 Thairath study of the Wat Bang Phra lineage in Nakhon Chai Si District, Nakhon Pathom Province, associated with Luang Pho Poen Thitakuno (born 12 August B.E. 2466 / 1923, disciple of Phra Ajarn Him Inthachoto), notes that the yantra is tattooed either with dark ink or invisibly with consecrated sesame oil (sak nam man) [17]. Bearers of Yant Salika in this lineage observe four behavioural prohibitions (kho ham): abstaining from divisive speech (wacha so siat) that causes quarrels; never spitting on the ground out of respect for the earth deity Phra Mae Thorani; never reviling one's parents; and never disrespecting the teacher [17].
For devotional recollection after chanting "Namo Tassa" three times, a 2025 Thairath compendium records four traditional Katha Salika Lin Thong stanzas [16]:
- Five Buddhas Heart-Syllable Version: "Puttang rakkhayetang, Thammang rakkhayetang, Sangkhang rakkhayetang, Ma Ka A Pi" (repeating "Ma Ka A Pi" nine times) [16].
- Na Salika Lin Thong Version (recited five times over small takrut or lip balm): "Nga Na Na Ma", followed by "Om Phiang Sathu Sathu Sathu" [16].
- Luang Pho Kuay Chutinataro (Wat Khositaram) Version: "Phuttho ruam chit, Thammo ruam chai, Sangkho long lai, ruam chai Phra Phuttho" [16].
- Luang Pu Sila Sirichanto Version: "Imang sacca-vacang adhitthami, Dutiyampi imang sacca-vacang adhitthami, Tatiyampi imang sacca-vacang adhitthami" ("I resolve upon this utterance of truth") [16].
This pairing of folk heart-syllables with the canonical vow of truthful speech (sacca-vaca) reflects how monastic teachers anchor the salika thai amulet tradition in Buddhist verbal ethics [8][16][17].
Where to see pieces like this - Our sister shop, Shogun X Amulets, has a page on Salika amulets: https://shogunxamulets.com/?s=Salika&post_type=product. Disclosure: Shogun X Amulets and ThaiAmuletExchange.com are run by the same group.