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RELIGION & MYTHOLOGY

 

 

 

  thewalohk

 

Thailand

Thewalohk i.e. the plane or heaven where the gods live, is part of the trilok or Three Worlds, i.e. the three realms in Buddhist cosmology, namely heaven, earth and hell.

 

Since the Ayutthaya Period onward this is in Buddhist temples often depicted in murals, regularly behind the principal Buddha statue of the main chapel and is part of the trilok or Three Worlds, i.e. the three realms in Buddhist cosmology, namely heaven, earth and hell. Since the Ayutthaya Period onward, this is often portrayed as a number of symmetrically erected columns, usually fifteen in number and of decreasing height, with the largest in the middle and representing Mount Meru, centre of the universe in Buddhist cosmology with at its pinnacle Tavatimsa heaven, the abode of the god Indra and the 33 gods. The other fourteen columns, seven on either side, symbolize its seven chains of surrounding mountains. Each of the columns is topped with a kind of prasat noi (fig.), i.e. an angelic palace represented as a triple-arched edifice known as a sumwimaan (fig.), i.e. an abode of a god.

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