The Four Face Buddha

Paying respects to a the Erawan Shrine is what me and my family would always do when we went Bangkok, Thailand.

And when deciding to write about it, the sudden interest in its origin attracted me to research more.

The shrine is called Erawan as it was said to be named after the late Erawan Hotel which built the shrine which named it after Brahma's 33 headed elephant.

Brahma on the other hand, was believed to be the God of Creator which was full of kindness, mercy, sympathy and impartiality. Each virtue is represented in the four faces of the image, radiating serene grace.

My mother on the other hand, believed that one was for career, the others were for love, health and wealth. Again, people had many other believes.

Other believed that the Four Face Buddha actually had five faces. When Brahmā was creating the universe, he made a female deity known as Shatarupā (below). Brahmā became immediately infatuated.

Shatarupā moved in various directions to avoid the gaze of Brahmā. But wherever she went, Brahmā developed a head. Thus, Brahmā developed five heads, one on each side and one above the others.

In order to control Brahmā, Shiva (worshipped as the God of Destroyer) @ above cut off the top head. Shiva felt that Shatarupā was Brahmā's daughter because he 'created' her. Therefore, Shiva found it wrong and incestuous for Brahmā to become obsessed with her.

He directed that there be no proper worship on earth for the "unholy" Brahmā. Thus, only Vishnu (Preservers of All Things) and Shiva continue to be worshiped, while Brahmā is almost totally ignored.

Ever since the incident, Brahmā has been reciting the four Vedas, one by each mouth in his attempt at repentance.

The history is way more but I guess a simple short one would do for readers.

Wishes do come true if we wish hard enough for what we want.

And once fulfilled, we must repay the favour in accordance to our promise.

Some come back to Thailand and pay for the dancers to perform in symbolism of thanks and gratitude..(710 bahts for 8 dancer :p)

While some donate elephant statues in relevance to Brahma's 33 headed elephant

It is up to us then.

Whether to believe it or not.

This shrine has given me hope when I had none.

Given me a chance to look at life the way I dream off.

Indeed, people might laugh, but this shrine made my wish come true.

What I wished for is of course a secret between me and the Brahma himself.
*winks*

Jacjac Out!