Stucco

The mythical creatures that inhabit a Thai temple are made of stucco. The sculptors who work with stucco prefer to use a traditional mix made out of lime, sand, sugarcane juice, straw paper and animal hide glue. Once pounded into a fine mix, the ingredients have enough malleability and strength to give the artists time to create works of fine detail. A good traditional mix should last for several centuries.

Though newer cement based stucco is much easier to make, it does not last more than 100 years.