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....