Bangkok Erawan Shrine. Four Faced God. Thailand



A place to visit every time you go in Bangkok is the Erawan Shrine. 

I always thought the statue represented the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, but I was wrong. It is actually an image of the Hindu God Brahma, revered also in Thai Buddhism as Phra Phrom.

Brahma is one of the three Great Gods.

  1. Brahma : God of Creation.
  2. Shiva : God of Destruction.
  3. Vishnu : God of Protection.




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These are two of the many stalls in the street near the shrine selling flowers, fruits, candles and scents to affer to the God of the shrine. 


If you want to make a small offer or to busr a candle or some scent, you will spend much less money by buying the things in the stalls inside the small courtyard where the shire is. These stalls are probably government owned or price regulated and everythung costs much less here than in the street a few metres away. The stall in the street are nich to photograps, but no Tai local even buy anything from them, they cater only to turists who do not know the market prices and pay everything double.




Near the shirne there are on stand-by some dancers and a small orchestra. The orchestra would start playing and the dancers dancing when some vistors pay a fee. The music and the dance are in honour of the God or possibly to appease him.





In the courtyard of the shrine there lanters with flames where to lit the incense and the candles before offering them to the statue.






Some photos at night






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