Shrine in Bangkok to Phra Phrom
The Erawan Shrine (2006)
Closer view of the four-faced Brahma (Phra Phrom) statue
View of the shrine from the Skytrain
The Erawan Shrine, formally the Thao Maha Phrom Shrine (Thai : ศาลท้าวมหาพรหม; RTGS: San Thao Maha Phrom; "Shrine of Lord Brahma the Great"), is a shrine in Bangkok, Thailand which houses a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. It often features performances by Thai dance troupes who are hired by worshippers in return for seeing their prayers answered at the shrine. A bomb exploded near the shrine on 17 August 2015, killing 20 and injuring 125 more. [1]
Thai, Central Thai, is the sole official and national language of Thailand and the first language of the Central Thai people and vast majority of Thai Chinese. It is a member of the Tai group of the Kra–Dai language family. Over half of Thai vocabulary is derived from or borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Mon and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language, similar to Chinese and Vietnamese.
The Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS) is the official system for rendering Thai words in the Latin alphabet. It was published by the Royal Institute of Thailand.
Bangkok is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand, and has a population of over eight million, or 12.6 percent of the country's population. Over fourteen million people lived within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region at the 2010 census, making Bangkok the nation's primate city, significantly dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in terms of importance.
2006 vandalism
2015 bombing
The shrine is near the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, at the Ratchaprasong intersection of Ratchadamri Road in Lumphini Subdistrict, Pathum Wan District. It is near the BTS Skytrain's Chit Lom Station, which has an elevated walkway overlooking the shrine. The area has many shopping malls nearby, including Gaysorn, CentralWorld, and Amarin Plaza.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises luxury hotels, resorts, and vacation properties. The Hyatt Corporation came into being upon purchase of the Hyatt House, at Los Angeles International Airport, on September 27, 1957. As of March 25, 2018, Hyatt has 777 properties in 54 countries. Fortune magazine ranked Hyatt #186 on its list of "America's Best Employers" for 2018.
Ratchaprasong is the name of an intersection, and a shopping district named after it, in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, adjacent to Siam area. Located at the BTS Skytrain's Chit Lom Station and the intersection of Phloen Chit, Rama I, and Ratchadamri Roads. The area is home to many shopping malls and hotels.
Ratchadamri Road is a road in Bangkok. It runs a distance of 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) in a north–south direction from Pratu Nam Intersection, where it meets Phetchaburi and Ratchaprarop Roads, to Sala Daeng Intersection, where it meets Rama IV and Si Lom Roads, forming the boundary between the Pathum Wan and Lumphini Subdistricts of Pathum Wan District. It passes through Ratchaprasong Intersection at the heart of Bangkok's main shopping district, as well as the green open spaces of the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and Lumphini Park, making its eponymous neighbourhood one of the top prime real estate locations in Bangkok.
Five other shrines dedicated to Hindu deities are located in the area as well: Phra Laksami (Lakshmi), Phra Trimurati (Trimurti), Phra Khanet (Ganesha), Phra In (Indra), and Phra Narai Song Suban (Narayana on his garuda). [2] [3] [4]
Lakshmi or Laxmi, is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity. She is the wife and shakti (energy) of Vishnu, one of the principal deities of Hinduism and the Supreme Being in the Vaishnavism Tradition. With Parvati and Saraswati, she forms Tridevi, the holy trinity. Lakshmi is also an important deity in Jainism and found in Jain temples. Lakshmi has also been a goddess of abundance and fortune for Buddhists, and was represented on the oldest surviving stupas and cave temples of Buddhism. In Buddhist sects of Tibet, Nepal and southeast Asia, goddess Vasudhara mirrors the characteristics and attributes of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi with minor iconographic differences.
The Trimūrti is the Triple deity of supreme divinity in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified as a triad of deities, typically Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer, though individual denominations may vary from that particular line-up. When all three deities of the Trimurti incarnate into a single avatar, the avatar is known as Dattatreya.
Ganesha, also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka or by numerous other names, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Thailand, Bali (Indonesia), Bangladesh and Nepal. Hindu denominations worship him regardless of affiliations. Devotion to Ganesha is widely diffused and extends to Jains and Buddhists.
People praying at Erawan Shrine Bangkok (2018)
The Erawan Shrine was built in 1956 as part of the government-owned Erawan Hotel to eliminate the bad karma believed caused by laying the foundations on the wrong date.
The hotel's construction was delayed by a series of mishaps, including cost overruns, injuries to laborers, and the loss of a shipload of Italian marble intended for the building. Furthermore, the Ratchaprasong intersection had once been used to put criminals on public display.
An astrologer advised building the shrine to counter the negative influences. The Brahma statue was designed and built by the Department of Fine Arts and enshrined on 9 November 1956. The hotel's construction thereafter proceeded without further incident. [5] In 1987, the hotel was demolished and the site used for the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel. [6]
Thanakorn Pakdeepol destroyed the statue with a hammer in the early hours of 21 March 2006; he was then beaten to death by angry bystanders. Two street sweepers were arrested and charged [7] with the fatal beating. [8] Witnesses said that Pakdeepol stood on the base of the statue and smashed the hollow statue of Brahma to pieces with a large hammer, fragmenting the four-faced head, torso, six arms, and weapons. Only part of the lap and the base were left intact. The incident occurred at about 1 a.m. [9]
Doctors performed an autopsy of Pakdeepol and found Arabic characters tattooed on his back and arms, prompting police to investigate whether the attack had a religious motive and whether the vandal had ties to Muslim extremists. [10] However, the vandal's father Sayant Pakdeepol said that his son had received treatment for psychiatric problems and that mental illness was the cause of the attack. He described the fatal beating of his son as an "overreaction". "Doing something like this is not the act of people with good beliefs, of those with real faith in Brahma", Sayyant told The Nation newspaper. "Murder is an immoral act and people with morality would not have done what they did". [11]
The Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing Arabic. It is written from right to left in a cursive style and includes 28 letters. Most letters have contextual letterforms.
The Nation is a broadsheet, English-language daily newspaper founded in 1971 and published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of two English-language dailies in Bangkok, the other being the Bangkok Post.
In the days immediately after the destruction of the Erawan Shrine, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited and paid his respects to the broken fragments of the Hindu deity. A white cloth was used to conceal the absence of the statue. Officials later reopened the site to the public, displaying photographs of the statue so that worshippers could pay their respects. [5] [8] [12] At a rally on the following day, government critic Sondhi Limthongkul charged that the destruction of the statue was a plot by the Prime Minister to maintain his political power through black magic. However, Thanakorn's father rejected the claim, telling The Nation that Limthongkul "is the biggest liar I have ever seen." [11]
A new Brahma statue was placed in the shrine on 21 May 2006 at 11:39, the moment when the sun was directly above it. Officials with the Religious Affairs Department and the Maha Brahma Foundation said that it was made of plaster with a mixture of gold, bronze, and other precious metals, along with fragments of the original statue. Another duplicate statue made entirely of metal was cast in the same mold and is kept in the national museum. [13]
Main article: 2015 Bangkok bombing
On 17 August 2015, at 18:55 local time, an explosive device composed of three kilograms of TNT stuffed in a metal pipe and wrapped in white cloth inside a backpack, detonated near Erawan Shrine, killing 20 people and injuring 125. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] Bomb disposal units checked two suspicious objects but found no other bombs. [20] An analyst with IHS Jane's hypothesized that the attack had been carried out by the Pan-Turkic Turkish ultra-nationalist organization Grey Wolves in retaliation for Thailand's deportation of Uyghur terrorist suspects back to China instead of allowing them to travel to Turkey for asylum. [21]
The bomb was placed in the shrine grounds next to a metal railing. The statue was slightly damaged. [22] Within two days all repairs had been completed and the shrine reopened. Rather than being commended for the swift reopening of the shrine, the government's actions have been subject to criticism. [23] [24] The government's perceived lack of progress in the investigation has stimulated critics to propose a number of theories as to who is responsible for the bombing, including elements of the government itself. [21]
The Thai dance troupe performs.
Flowers and incense around the shrine.
Statues of elephants
A Thai student pouring the holy water on his two hands at Erawan shrine
Thailand portal
Hinduism portal
Devasathan, the main Hindu temple in Bangkok
Spirit house, the general practice of establishing shrines to appease local spirits
Phuket is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands off its coast. It lies off the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Phuket Island is connected by the Sarasin Bridge to Phang Nga Province to the north. The next nearest province is Krabi, to the east across Phang Nga Bay.
The Ramakien is Thailand's national epic, derived from the Hindu epic Ramayana.
Narayana is known as Nirguna Bhrama and is the creator of Tridevas - Bhrama, Vishnu, and Mahesh. He is sometimes considered same as God Vishnu but is different as he is Nirguna and God Vishnu has Divya Satva Guna. He is also known as "The Purusha" and is considered Supreme in Yogic Tradition. He is also "Guru of the Universe". The Bhagavata Purana and Veda declare Narayana as a part of the Trimurti who creates unlimited universes and enters each one of them..
Phra Lak Phra Ram is the national epic of the Lao people, and is adapted from Valmiki's Hindu epic, the Ramayana. Ramayana reached Laos much later than Cambodia and Thailand (Siam) which caused the loss of its original Hindu influence and affected local adaptation. Similar to some Malay versions of the Hikayat Seri Rama, the epic has lost the association with Hinduism and is instead considered a Jataka Story, a previous lifetime of the Buddha. It is also very popular in some parts of Northeastern Thailand, or Isan, a region of Thailand populated by a large number of Lao-speaking people and formerly part of Lanxang.
Phra Nakhon is one of the 50 districts (khet) of Bangkok, Thailand. It is the central district of Bangkok, including Rattanakosin Island. Neighboring districts are, from the north, clockwise: Dusit, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Samphanthawong, and across the Chao Phraya River, Thonburi, Bangkok Yai, Bangkok Noi, and Bang Phlat.
Pathum Wan is one of the 50 districts (khet) of Bangkok, Thailand. The district is bounded by seven other districts : Ratchathewi, Watthana, Khlong Toei, Sathon, Bang Rak, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, and Dusit.
Phra Phrom is the Thai representation of the Hindu god Brahma, who is regarded in Thai culture as a deity of good fortune and protection. According to puranas, Brahma has four faces representing four Vedas or knowledge coming from four directions: north, south, east and west. Phra Phrom is colloquially known outside Thailand as the Four-Faced Awakened One or Four-Faced God among Chinese folk religious worshippers, among whom the faith of this god has spread in the latest decades.
In 2005 and 2006, a series of events occurred in Thailand as a result of an unrest with Thaksin Shinawatra that was supported by Sondhi Limthongkul and his coalitions. It led a military coup that concluded in the overthrow of the Thai Rak Thai government in September 2006, the flight of Thaksin after the court verdict, and the establishment of the junta government led by Surayud Chulanont, a favourite of privy councillor and senior statesman Prem Tinsulanonda.
CentralWorld is a shopping plaza and complex in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the eleventh largest shopping complex in the world. The complex, which includes a hotel and office tower, is owned by Central Pattana. In 2006, after three years of design and renovation, CentralWorld was expanded to 550,000 square metres of shopping mall and 830,000 square metres of complex, topping nearby rival Siam Paragon in terms of size.
Muangthai Raisabdah is a Thai political talk show hosted by Sondhi Limthongkul and Sarocha Pornudomsak. The show is Sondhi's personal mouthpiece, and up to 2004 it praised Premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Later, when relations between the two soured, it became one of the Premier's most vocal critics. In September 2005, the show was cancelled by its broadcaster, MCOT, after Sondhi allegedly made on-air comments disrespectful to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Sondhi started independently broadcasting his show via satellite and internet, turning tapings into rallies against the government. In February 2006, Sondhi co-founded the People's Alliance for Democracy and the show was incorporated into the PAD's anti-Thaksin rallies.
In Thailand politics, the Finland Plot, Finland Plan, Finland Strategy or Finland Declaration are names of a controversial conspiracy theory espoused by Sondhi Limthongkul and supporters affiliated with the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in 2006 describing a plot allegedly developed by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and former left-wing student leaders to overthrow the Thai monarch, take control of the nation, and establish a communist state. The plot allegedly originated in Finland.
Bank of Thailand Museum is a museum in Bangkok, Khwaeng Wat Sam Phraya, Khet Phra Nakhon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10300,Thailand. The museum is housed in the Bang Khun Phrom Palace, the former residence of Prince Paribatra Sukhumbandhu, who was the 33rd son of King Chulalongkorn. The Bank of Thailand, Northern Region also has a museum in Chiang Mai. In June 2017, the museum was reopened.
Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is one of the world's top tourist destination cities. MasterCard ranked Bangkok as the global top destination city by international visitor arrivals in its Global Destination Cities Index, with 15.98 million projected visitors in 2013. It has topped the MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index as the most visited city in the world in 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2018. The city is ranked fourth in cross-border spending, with 14.3 billion dollars projected for 2013, after New York, London and Paris. Euromonitor International ranked Bangkok sixth in its Top City Destinations Ranking for 2011. Bangkok has also been named "World's Best City" by Travel + Leisure magazine's survey of its readers for four consecutive years since 2010.
Mariamman Temple, also known as Maha Uma Devi Temple in Si Lom, known as Wat Khaek Silom, 'Khaek' being a term, albeit one increasingly perceived as offensive, used for "people of Indian origin", is a South Indian architecture style Hindu temple in Bangkok, Thailand. It was built in 1879 by Vaithi Padayatchi, a Tamil Hindu immigrant.
Siam is an area in the Pathum Wan District of Bangkok. It is a de facto district/neighborhood that consists of roughly 43 acres (170,000 m2) of the Thai Royal Family's estate, of which 17 acres (69,000 m2) is the Sra Pathum Palace; the remaining 26 acres (110,000 m2), formerly home to the Siam Intercontinental Hotel and its royal gardens, are leased by the Crown Property Bureau to several shopping complexes on either side of Rama I Road. Though no district of Bangkok by the name "Siam" legally exists, local Thais refer to this area as such, and consider it to be the very heart of Bangkok. Siam is connected to the adjacent Ratchaprasong area via a number of footbridges.
Sanggar Agung Temple or Hong San Tang is a Chinese temple in Surabaya dedicated to Chinese deities and other Asian religious icons. It is located within the Pantai Ria amusement park and become a tourist destination, even though it is originally a worship place for Tridharma followers. The name of Sanggar Agung is derived from Indonesian language which can be translated as Great Hall.
On 17 August 2015, a bombing took place inside the Erawan Shrine at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, Thailand, killing 20 people and injuring 125. Thai police were reported to have arrested two suspects, the second of whom confessed to having been the bomber. He later retracted his confession.
Devasathan or Brahmin Temple is a Hindu temple near Wat Suthat in the Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok, Thailand. The temple is the official centre of Hinduism in Thailand, especially Brahmanism. The temple is the home of the Court Brahmins, who are descended from an ancient lineage of priests from Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. The Brahmins perform many important royal and religious ceremonies for the Monarchy of Thailand every year. The temple was founded in 1784 by King Rama I, the founder of the Chakri dynasty.
Bang Lamphu or spelled Banglampoo and Banglamphu is a neighbourhood in Bangkok located in Phra Nakhon District. The history of the Bang Lamphu community dates to the establishment of the Rattanakosin Kingdom, or earlier. Bang Lamphu covers an area north of Phra Nakhon in Rattanakosin Island from Phra Athit Road to Samsen Road, which leads toward Dusit District.
↑ "Bangkok bomb horror: At least 20 die, 125 hurt in Erawan shrine blast". Bangkok Post . 18 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ Lim, Eric. "Lakshmi Shrine – guardian angel of Ratchaprasong". Tour Bangkok Legacies. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ "Thailand's World: Hindu Shrines at Ratchaprasong". thailandsworld.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ "Hindu Shrines Around the Ratchaprasong Junction". Life's Indulgences. 16 November 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
1 2 McGirk, Jan (22 March 2006). "Attack on Thai statue seen as bad omen for beleaguered Thaksin". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
↑ "A visit to the old Erawan Hotel". 2Bangkok.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
↑ "อาเพศร้ายทุบท้าวมหาพรหม" [Ominous of collapsed Thao Maha Phrom]. Manager Online (in Thai). 21 March 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
1 2 "Much-revered Phra Prom statue destroyed". The Nation. 21 March 2006. Archived from the original on 19 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ "ท้าวมหาพรหมถูกทำลาย มิอาจทำลายหัวใจพรหม" [Thao Maha Phrom was destroyed but could not destroy Phromheart]. Manager Online (in Thai). 22 March 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
↑ Wannabovorn, Sutin (22 March 2006). "Police probing whether attacker of sacred shrine in Thailand was Muslim extremist". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
1 2 "Vandal's dad distraught". The Nation. 23 March 2006. p. 4A.
↑ Poo, Monthathip (22 March 2006). "Man beaten to death after desecrating the Erawan Shrine". The Nation. Archived from the original on 20 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ Kaewmorakot, Chatrarat (22 May 2006). "Erawan Shrine statue restored". The Nation. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ Holmes, Oliver (17 August 2015). "Bangkok explosion: fatal blast at Erawan shrine". The Guardian . Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ Akkoc, Raziye (19 August 2015). "Bangkok bomb: Suspect 'didn't do it alone' and 'may not be in Thailand'". The Telegraph . Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ Forgan, Duncan; Bacon, John (17 August 2015). "Death toll rises in Bangkok bomb blast". USA Today . Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ Beech, Hannah (17 August 2015). "Bangkok Bombing: At Least 20 Dead at Erawan Shrine". Time. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ McLaughlin, Eliott C.; Olarn, Kocha (17 August 2015). "Bangkok shrine explosion kills 22, including tourists". CNN . Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ "Bangkok bomb: Deadly blast rocks Thailand capital". BBC News . 17 August 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
↑ "Bangkok bomb: What do we know?". BBC.
1 2 Ruiz, Todd (28 August 2015). "Floundering Bomb Investigation Deepens Doubts About Competency". Khaosod English. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
↑ "Bangkok bomb-hit Erawan shrine reopens". BBC. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
↑ "Thailand's investigation of deadly Bangkok bombing dogged by unsavory police legacy". Fox News. Associated Press. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
↑ Ngarmboonanant, Geng (27 August 2015). "The Thai Government Is Whitewashing the Bangkok Bombing to Reassure Tourists". The New Republic. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
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