Who Can Explain Different Buddha Statutes In Bangkok?

[muratremix]

In some shopping malls entrance like Ratchadamri Central world, I'm seeing some different Buddha statutes. I know Buddha but I see very different ones and Thai people pray to them. When I ask my wife, she tells me "We also believe in this". Thats it, no name, no explanation leaves me in wonder.

[bifftastic]

They're Hindu in origin, the Elephant headed one is Ganesh, I forget the names of the other guys, but they're not Buddha

[IMA_FARANG]

They're Hindu in origin, the Elephant headed one is Ganesh, I forget the names of the other guys, but they're not Buddha

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Yes, but you also may see staues with a Chinese influence...like the "Goddess of Mercy" or other Chinese inspired personifications of "virtues" that have been brought into Thai popular Buddhisim from Chinese sources. Often these look more Chinese than Thai, especially in their clothing style.

[bifftastic]

Yes, good point

I was forgetting the Chinese influences

[muratremix]

Thanks for details.

[Xangsamhua]

Ganesha is my favourite - personification of wisdom, knowledge, etc. Some Thai males have his name (คเณศ - khanet) as a given name. We have a lovely "dancing Ganesha" statuette from India at home.

Many Thais, especially of Chinese origin, have a special devotion to Kwan Im (Kuan Ying, Kwannon, Avalokiteshvara - the Bodhisattva of Compassion) and do not eat beef as a result. Mrs Xangsamhua, though not of Chinese ancestry, made a vow to Kwan Im 20 years ago and has not eaten beef since

Brahman gods and Mahayana bodhisattvas came to Siam from Angkor before Theravada was consolidated here, and the influence of Khmer advisors and courtiers in Ayudhya reinforced the combining of the different though related traditions. Hence the Siamese/Thai monarch is seen as an embodiment of Indra, the King of the Gods, and Rama, the avatar of Vishnu. And Bangkok, the successor capital to Ayudhya, is officially named "... the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of the God Indra ...where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra ...".

I'm not sure how the official Sangha regards the merging of Brahman/Hindu deities into a Thai Buddhist pantheon, but to me it exemplifies the tolerance and openness of Thai people to exogenous influences where they see them as beneficial. We can sometimes focus on the apparent conservatism of Thai people, but must acknowledge that they are also very assimilative and open-minded in some ways.

Edited August 21, 2011 by Xangsamhua