Hat Yai | Thailand

Four Faces Buddha Temple San Phra Phrom Hat Yai

Family Thailand Tour 2020

Hat Yai | Thailand

27 Jan 2020 | Mon

Day 02 of 18

  • Bodhisattva Guan Yin Shrine Hat Yai
  • Hat Yai Cable Car
  • Four Faces Buddha Temple San Phra Phrom Hat Yai
  • Standing Buddha Temple Phra Buddha Mongkol Maharaj
  • Wat Laem Pho Ko Yo Island
  • Monthathip Seafood Songkhla
  • Golden Mermaid Statue Songkhla
  • Phra Maha Chedi Tripob Trimongkol Hat Yai
  • Hat Yai City Night Market

Four Faces Buddha Temple San Phra Phrom Hat Yai

After our awesome cable car ride, we arrived to the four-faced Buddha shrine (San Phra Phrom / Thao Mahaprom Shrine). This Buddhist shrine attracts a lot of visitors, coming to make merit, pray and hope to have their wishes answered by the Hindu god, Brahman.

Four Faces Buddha Temple San Phra Phrom Hat Yai

Brahma is a Hindu god, referred to as “the Creator” within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva. He is associated with creation, knowledge, and the Vedas. Brahma is prominently mentioned in creation legends. In some Puranas, he created himself in a golden embryo known as the Hiranyagarbha.

Brahma is frequently identified with the Vedic god Prajapati. During the post-Vedic period, Brahma was a prominent deity and his sect existed; however, by the 7th century, he had lost his significance. He was also overshadowed by other major deities like Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi, and demoted to the role of a secondary creator, who was created by the major deities. Along with other such Hindu deities, Brahma is sometimes viewed as a form (saguna) of the otherwise formless (nirguna) Brahman, the ultimate metaphysical reality in Vedantic Hinduism.

Brahma is commonly depicted as a red or golden complexioned bearded man, with four heads and hands. His four heads represent the four Vedas and are pointed to the four cardinal directions. He is seated on a lotus and his vahana (mount) is a hamsa (swan, goose or crane). According to the scriptures, Brahma created his children from his mind and thus, they are referred to as Manasaputra.

In contemporary Hinduism, Brahma does not enjoy popular worship and has substantially less importance than the other two members of the Trimurti. Brahma is revered in the ancient texts, yet rarely worshiped as a primary deity in India, owing to the absence of any significant sect dedicated to his veneration. Very few temples dedicated to him exist in India, the most famous being the Brahma Temple, Pushkar in Rajasthan. Some Brahma temples are found outside India, such as at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok.

– Wikipedia Hindu God Brahman

Around the perimeter of the temple are many miniature elephant statues, donated by devotees. Out front of the temple is a large three-headed Erawan elephant (Airavata). There is also a firecracker housing for devotees to light firecrackers for good luck.

Three-Headed Erawan Elephant (Airavata)

Airavata is a white elephant who carries the deity Indra. It is also called ‘abhra-Matanga’, meaning “elephant of the clouds”; ‘Naga-malla’, meaning “the fighting elephant”; and ‘Arkasodara’, meaning “brother of the sun”. ‘Abhramu’ is the elephant wife of Airavata. Airavata has four tusks and seven trunks and is spotless white. Airavata is also the third son of Iravati. In the Mahabharata he is listed as a great serpent.

– Wikipedia Airavata

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