Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
saying that a symbol of hope and enlightenment could come from something inherently
evil. Around the compound are a great number of grey stone figures, including life-size
depictions of European seafarers, carried to Siam from China as ballast in the junks that
would return laden with rice or teak.
For all its significance and beauty tourists seldom enter Wat Suthat, their interest usu-
ally being confined to the Giant Swing, the huge red frame being visible from either end of
Bamrung Muang, and forming the centrepiece of the road junction. The swing was built
only two years after the founding of Bangkok, when a Brahman named Kratai asked per-
mission from Rama
I
to build a temple and ceremonial swing for conducting Brahman ce-
remonies, and is therefore older than Wat Suthat. It was originally placed in front of the
nearby Thewa Sathan Shrine that Kratai built at the same time. Hinduism and Buddhism
have always been closely related in Siam, Brahman ceremonies having played a significant
part of life in the Sukhothai, Ayutthaya and Thonburi eras, and the king readily agreed.
Brahmans believe that Shiva and Vishnu descend from heaven to earth once a year, and
amongst the ceremonies was the swing ceremony, or Tri Yampawai, used to give thanks
for a bountiful rice harvest and ask blessings for the next. The government official in
charge of the rice harvest, accompanied by astrologers, would lead a parade around the
city walls and into the shrine precinct. Three teams of young Brahmans would ride on
the swing attempting to catch, by mouth, a bag of gold or silver coins held on a pole. Al-
though no one knows how high the original swing was, this was clearly a dangerous prac-
tice as a number of injuries and deaths occurred throughout the years. The ceremony was
finally abandoned in 1935, although the rice harvest festival is still conducted in Decem-
ber every year. The swing was moved here from its original location in 1920, when the
swing structure was rebuilt. Because of continuing deterioration, it was rebuilt again in
1947 and 1970. Today's Giant Swing, which is more than 21 metres (68 ft) high and made
from teak, dates from 2006. Wat Suthat remains closely associated with Hinduism, hous-
ing the Brahman priests who officiate at state ceremonies. The Thewa Sathan Shrine is
on Dinso Road and contains images of Shiva and Ganesh, and there is the small Saan Jao
Phitsanu shrine dedicated to Vishnu and standing on the opposite side of Wat Suthat. A
few metres away is Bharat Vidyalaya, a school founded by the Hindu community in 1930,
originally in Pahurat and moved to the present site in 1948. The school building was erec-
ted in 1965, and the Dev Mandir Temple inaugurated on the same site in 1969.
Bamrung Muang Road skirts Wat Suthat and continues eastwards, still with its shoph-
ouses selling temple goods and here passing through a district known as Samranrat where,
in the lanes to the left, is a small community dedicated to the sewing of saffron robes
