The Erawan Shrine, whose official Thai name is Thao Maha Brama, is a Hindu shrine in front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, at the intersection between Ratchadamri Road and Ploenchit Road, in the Ratchaprasong shopping district of downtown Bangkok. It is built to house the statue of the Hindu deity Brahma. Today it is a popular tourist attraction in Bangkok, and attracts sightseers because of the presence of traditional Thai dancers who can be hired by worshippers in thanksgiving for answered prayers.
The Erawan is in fact the Thai name for the mythological elephant Airavata, the vehicle for the Hindu deity Indra, and is often depicted as a three-headed elephant.
The Erawan Shrine was built in 1956, during the construction of the government-owned Erawan Hotel. The construction had be plagued with all sorts of misfortune including ballooning costs, accidents and loss of shipments. Thai Rear Admiral Luang Suwichanphaet, a noted astrologer, determined that the moment for the laying of the hotel foundation stone was inauspicous. To correct it, a shrine to the deity Brahma and a spirit house have to be built within the ground of the hotel. From then on, the construction of the hotel progressed without further hiccups.
The original statue of Brahma was made of plaster covered in gold leaf. It was the design of Chit Phimkowit, a sculptor from the Fine Arts Department. It was installed on 9 November, 1956, after which, a celebration was held at the shrine every year on that date.
In the early morning of 21 March, 2006, a demented man identified as Thanakorn Pakdeepol, 27, smashed the original Brahma statue to pieces. He was promptly attacked by angry bystanders, who beat him to death in the process. Two street sweepers were arrested for the murder. For a while, a piece of white cloth was used to conceal the absence of the broken statue. A new copy was created from a mixture of gold, bronze, other precious metals and pieces of the original statue, and placed at the shrine on 21 May 2006, at precisely 11:39 am, a time determined as auspicious for the sun was shining down directly over the shrine. Another replica, wholly of metal, was also made, and kept at the National Museum.
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