Wat Phra Siwa Chao (วัดพระศิวะเจ้า)
Thai. ‘Lord
Shiva
Temple’. Name of a Thai
Hindu
sanctuary located on a 3
rai
area plot of land in
Bangkok's
Saphaan Kwai
District,
operated by
Samahkhom Tantra, i.e. the ‘Tantra
Association’, an organization under the Hindu Thamma Sapha (ธรรมสภา)
Association, i.e. the Hindu
Dhamma
Council at the
Vishnu
Temple in Bangkok's
Sathorn District,
near
Wat Prok
(fig.).
It
also referred to as
Tantra Thewalai, i.e. ‘Tantra
Idol Shrine’
or ‘Home
of
Tantra
Deities’.
Whereas an initial Tantra Group started in 1987, the current temple
−though still a private place with members− first opened its doors
to outsiders and visitors in July 2005, and wasn't registered under
its current name until 2011. As the name Tantra Thewalai suggests,
the temple houses a collection of bronze statues of Tantric deities,
i.e. idols from
Tantrism,
a late form of
Brahmanism, that consists of a
Hindu
doctrine in which the worship of demons −in particular
Devi−
plays an important role, as well as a mystical form of
Vajrayana
Buddhism. Most of these statues are located in both a garden and a
gallery that surrounds the temple's inner courtyard, which at its
centre has a statue of Shiva
as ‘lord
of dance’, a representation of cosmic truth and energy
known as
Nataraja
(fig.).
Devotees come here to study and
research methods and rituals in order to achieve whatever they
desire, especially a way out of suffering, by various means of
worshiping these idols. Deities
on display include the seven
thep prajam wan,
in
which each day of the week
corresponds with a certain deity,
such as
Phra Ahtit, the sun god and god of Sunday
(fig.),
and
Phra Jan,
the moon
god and god of Monday
(fig.),
etc. Furthermore, there
are statues of
Matangi,
i.e. the Tantric form of Sarasvati, who in her appearance as
Raja-Matangi is depicted playing the
veena, a
sitar-like
while in the company of a parrot
(fig.);
Varahi,
the
shakti
of
Varaha,
i.e. the third
avatar
of the Hindu god
Vishnu
in the form of a
boar
(fig.),
and hence a form
Prithivi,
depicted with the head of a sow
(fig.);
Kali (fig.),
the
horrifying form of
Devi, the consort of
Shiva
and a goddess of death, violence, and doomsday;
Mahakali (fig.),
the terrible form of
Parvati, with
multiple arms;
Yama,
the Vedic god of death
and judge of the dead (fig.), and a son of
Surya
(fig.);
Kuvera (fig.),
the god of
wealth and
a grandson of Brahma;
the demon
Rahu
standing on
Garuda
(fig.),
prior to losing his legs;
Tridevi (fig.),
the
feminine form of the
Trimurti;
and
Skanda,
the god of war and one of the sons of
Shiva;
to name but a few. On certain occasions visitors are invited to part
in ceremonies, such as to make an offering of
paddy, i.e. unhusked
rice,
mixed with rice flour, in order to gain merit, known in Thai as
tamboon (fig.). Also transliterated Wat
Phra Shiva Jao and Wat Phrashivajao. See also
Siwa,
TRAVEL PICTURES
and
MAP.
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