Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of the Princess Mother. The principal Buddha image in the
ubosot
was brought from Vien-
tiane, in Laos, during the reign of Rama
III
. Somehow the compound, with its bodhi tree,
its white
chedi
and its shrine fragrant with incense smoke, manages to be peaceful and
serene, and if the visitor wanders down the gravel path and past the monks' quarters he
will find himself in a miniature forest, a place for anyone who wishes to meditate, and for
those studying at the Dharma centre in the grounds. The temple underwent grim publicity
in 2010 when several civilians were shot and killed here during the government clashes
with the Red Shirts, who had barricaded the nearby Ratchaprasong junction.
Diagonally across the Ratchaprasong junction is the Erawan Shrine, another site where
violent tragedy has struck in recent years. On the morning of 21
st
March 2006, a Muslim
man had smashed the Hindu image at the shrine, and for his trouble had been beaten to
death on the spot by two street sweepers. The dead man, his father later explained, had
been mentally ill, rather than driven by any hatred of the Hindu religion or the deity Than
Tao Mahaprom, who is represented at the shrine. The image in place today was installed
two months after the incident, and is a far more valuable (and stronger) image, being made
from an alloy of nine metals, including gold and silver, unlike the previous image, which
was made of plaster covered with gold leaf.
The Erawan Shrine is one of Bangkok's most famous attractions, a courtyard of intense
colour, music, the clanging of bells and swirling incense smoke, made even more colourful
by the bright blooms of the flower vendors outside on the pavement. Devotees offering
prayers and hoping for wishes to be granted, or giving thanks for earlier good fortune, can
hire the shrine dancers to accompany their prayers. A small sum of money is paid to the
woman seated at a small wooden desk, the amount varying according to how many dan-
cers are requested, a scale being posted on a signboard on the wall. Two xylophones and
a double-headed drum provide the music. A dance usually lasts for three minutes. Spare
a thought for the dancers, for they work long hours: usually every other day, with a shift
that can last from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., or 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Erawan Shrine is not old, having been founded in 1956 to reverse a series of
misfortunes and mishaps that had occurred since work began three years previously on
building the Erawan Hotel next door. The Erawan was a government venture, the first of
the international hotels built after World War
II
., and the aura of bad luck that surroun-
ded the hotel prompted the consultation of one of Thailand's leading astrologers, Luang
Suwichanphaet. He explained that the time of the laying of the foundation stone had been
inauspicious, and that to correct it a shrine to appease the spirit of the land would have to
be built within the grounds of the hotel. An image of Than Tao Mahaprom, the four-faced
