Bustling around in BANGKOK
Looking beyond the usual Touristy sites of glamorous Bangkok :
At the street level , people are friendly and helpful , especially the hardworking women , though they dont smile much .
Some vignettes linger on in memory :
Barbie-pink cabs ; noisy motorbike taxis ; chaotic traffic ; low hanging cables, in bunches ;
Brightly painted chubby monk statuettes with a bowl for offerings , small plastic dolls, animal figures ( zebras ! why ?), soft drink cartons etc left at the foot of any wayside shrine What happens to all those heaps of offerings ?
The magical appearance and disappearance of food vending kiosks at noon time on the pavements in residential localities
Shrines in the most unlikeliest places ; every nook and corner , each one popular for a particular reason like one could get you a driving license pronto, one could give success in a love affair , one to push through files easily in a government office , whatever . Gods like Indra , Brahma and Ganesa inside sparkling glass pavilions placed in busy business areas ; people nonchalantly offering worship with flowers and incense as they commute to and from offices . The most famous one , Erawan ( Brahma) Shrine , built by a hotel group , extremely popular ; Sometimes , there is traditional music and traditional dances right there in the public square , apparently rented and offered as votive prayer by any worshipper. And a magnificent green Amarindradhiraja at Ratchaprasong .
The entire place - MRT station, shops , parks , offices et al , coming to stand still attention twice a day when the national anthem is played over public address system.Such discipline !
How the entire city went on knees , in impromptu groups , dropping where they were , even on streets, praying for the ailing King ( Bumibol Adulyadej) and when he died , wearing mourning colour for nearly a week . He was genuinely loved .
Mango Sticky Rice , Thai Milk Tea , Dried Banana fudge . Humongous guavas .
Lively, lovely Bangkok Art & Culture Center
A tower clock with Thai numerals . A Singer sewing machine mini museum in a clothing shop. Intentionally and unintentionally funny signboards ( rather ghoulish, to order a Frozen Bride dessert !)
The utter madness of Chatuchak market ! My worry : how do they manage to sell all those millions of little things on sale there !
Startling display of fried locusts, roaches and scorpions as snack on the riverfront at Asiatique .
The huge ( upto 10ft long ) monitor lizards strolling about the banks of the lake in Lumpini park
---------------------
Wat Pathum Wanaram
Founded in 1857 as a shrine and memorial for royals . Spic and span ! Like an oasis of peace and quiet ; within a very busy , modern business district , flanked by uber mod shopping malls . The clash of architecturals designs ( the Meru Stupa and angular blue glass towers ) is both interesting and visually jarring. The Wat with its various structures must have been rebuilt and extended many times over . Bling of gold gilt , sparkle of colored glass mosaics , shower of yellow flowers , swish of orange robes . So picturesque ! The ritual of sprinkling holy water from a marble basin using long stemmed lotus buds is so pleasing and exotic .
---------------------
Suan Pakkad Palace
Not just another palace with gilt fittings and gun toting guards. Interestingly , the compound encloses a collection of buildings of differing architecture , prefacing the vision of its owners , a Royal couple from a lateral branch of the ruling royal family. The Prince Chumbotbong Paribatra and his wife Princess Panthip Thewakun, both avid collectors of antiques , curios , keepsakes and cultural artefacts, turned their property into a wonderfully curated museum of their collections in 1952.
From traditional barges to tiny sea shells , its a sizeable collection. The Music room and the Masks room are particularly interesting ( if on time , one can catch a performance of masked puppets too) One hall is devoted to the amazing, archeologically important , Ban Chiang relics ( 300 BCE - 200 CE) - mostly pottery in excellent condition, also metal artefacts, beads , jewelry ( including a piece still adorning the bony hand of a long dead person ). The biggest piece in the Museum is the Lacquer Pavilion, standing in the front lawn, relocated from Ayuthaya, with scintillating black lacquer panels decorated with gold designs and illustrationsof mythological scenes inside . Of interest is a slab at the entrance showing the "horoscope of the palace" ! Along with the ticket and brochure, visitors get a love palm leaf woven hand fan ( so useful) each and a soft spoken guide. Photography is prohibited inside the galleries.
--------------
Erawan Museum and Mini Siam ( outside Bangkok city) : Both envisioned by a Thai billionaire as an attractive way to keep youth informed and invested in Thai Culture and Spirituality. Evidently , cost was no bar for the impassioned Lek Viriyapant and it shows .
The Erawan museum is modeled after the Hindu concept of the Universe ; the central building is topped by an enormous three headed bronze Airavat (250 tons) ; the garden of mythical beings is beautifully done with helpful signboards . The interior is lavish and decorated with intricately made statuettes, panels and pillars.
Mini Siam is a well laid theme park where structures of cultural importance from all across Siam ( Thailand) have been replicated in authentic detail.
----------------------
Thai Silk has earned its own place in the world of fine textiles. All about its origins , revival , marketing to the world and the mysterious life of the man who revived the industry - thats the mystique of the quaint little museum tucked in a bylane : "Jim Thomson House "
-------------------------
In all the famous Buddhist Shrines ( Emerald Buddha, Wat Pho, Wat Arun etc ), one sees huge, beautifully embellished grimacing characters , installed like Dwarapalas . They have different coloured faces and there are variations in what they hold in hands. Was very happy to find an informative sign board in Wat Pho that explained these figures, generally called Guardian Giants.
Almost all of them are characters from the Thai version of Ramayana , which includes some characters and episodes from local lore and hence different from the standard Indian Valmiki version.
The Giants , in pairs , flanking the major gateways to the shrine of Wat Pho :
Totsakan and Sahassadecha : North East gate
Intrachit and Suriyaparp : South East gate
Satthasoone and Prayakorn : North West gate
Maiyarap and Sengathit : South West gate .
The Emerald Buddha in The Palace has six pairs of Giant Guardians.
Totsakan ( also spelt Thosakanth) is ofcourse Ravana .
Sahassadeja ( -or decha) is a Rakshasa with 1000 faces and 2000 arms and rules over the kingdom of Pangtarn . He has a magical cudgel , whose top ,when pointed at someone , kills and the bottom restores life to the dead. During the War, Hanuman destroys him by breaking his magic cudgel and beheading him .
Intrachit : Ravana's son , Indrajit , who is invincible because of Brahma's boon that he can only be killed mid-air and if his head falls to earth , there would be apocalypse . In the war, Rama beheads him while air borne above a hallowed knoll and Angada catches the head before it hits earth to avert pralaya.
Suriyaparp : Son of a Yaksha King , Jakrawat . He hurls his magical spear, Mekhapat , at Shatrughna and incapacitates him , where upon , Bharatha kills the demon with an arrow.
Maiyarap : Could be Mayil Ravanan . Adept at casting spells , he puts the entire army of Rama in a swoon, captured and took away Rama to his own capital . Hanuman followed him and finished off the demon.
About the others ( Sattasoone, Prayakorn and Sengathit ) , could not find much . Since the characters' names are spelt very differently in different places , with some having more than one name . But , in general , all the Giant Guardians are Rakshasas or Yaks ( Yaksha) either related to or friends of Ravana.
----------------------------------------------
Comments