ADHVAGATI

  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 , whate...

LAI ROT NAM  When on a Wat visit in Thailand , you  just cant miss those door and window panes- many a time, protected by an overlay of plexiglass . You can tell right away that they are precious . Not just expensive in material value alone . Precious because of the intricacy of the craft , sometimes because of the age and always because they are a labour of love and piety , offered to The Lord as a reconfirmation of Faith .  The traditional Thai decorative Art of Gold leaf inlay on Black Lacquered  wood  originated  during the Ayutthya Period ( 14 th to 18th Century ) reaching the highpoint of creativity in 17th Century . When the capital shifted to Bangkok (Rattinakosin Era, 18th Cent ) , the art was modified with Chinese influences , while Chiang Mai , in the north , preserved the traditional  Thai technique . To this day , the Chiang Mai label is assurance of the highest quality of work.  The process :  A wooden or bamboo base is c...

It came as a surprise .   " Men only " said a forbidding signboard  at the entrance to the first shrine  inside the Wat ChediLuang Varaviharn complex in Chiang Mai  . Why was Buddha  being uncharacteristically partial here ? It turned out that the shrine was not for Buddha , but for The Pillar of Indra !  ( Sao Inthakin ) ; also called The City Pillar. An object so very holy that the biology of women is seen as  a problem in keeping that holiness intact . See signboard .  But  no ,woman, no cry ! We are not missing much. Indra's Pillar is  secured in an underground vault below the alter , with only the Buddha installed above it  accesible even to the men who enter  !  What is a City Pillar ? And what is Indra's role in it ?  It took some reading in the hotel's excellent library  , some  running around minor Wats and  a serendipitous  visit to a not so popular museum to get the full picture....

Right after reports appeared in press, about plans to install a 500ft. tall statue of Buddha Maitreya in Bodhgaya, China put out word that a 509 ft. Maitreya will come up in Central China sooner ! After all China has a record to defend ; it is home to the current Tallest Statue in The World - also a Buddha. I have not yet seen this Biggest Statue in The World. But here's a listing of some of the other Biggies i've met . The biggest statue i'd seen as a child was the monolithic Nandi atop Chamundi Hill in Mysore. In those days, it was more approachable, there being no forbidding railings around the image as now. Children were encouraged to walk through the arch created by its bent foreleg, to ensure good health. As we passed under that stone knee, the statue seemed imponderably immense. But it is only 18 ft. high. Whereas the other famous monolith of Karnataka, the awe inspiring Gomateshwara at Sravanabelagola, is 18 meters tall . It's always an exciting moment...