Dear SPS and VJ have been busy nice to know about the Iravadam and Iravanam... VJ mentioned about them in the thailand legends... afew interesting snippets Thailand is called the land of white Elephants if my geography is right the main river of Burma the adjacent state is called Irrawady... interesting isnt it.... even today though thailand is predominantly buddist the Kings are seen as manifestations of Vishnu and are called Rama 1 Rama 2 etc
thai's worship vishnu, brahma and indra in that order...have not seen much of shiva worship there...whereas in indonesia there is much prevalence of shiva worship....could be due thailand being seeded with hinduism around the pallava period, whereas the cholas with their shiva shift touching only upto malaysia!!
would be keen to know when indians stopped worshipping brahma ( ie when the legend of his inflated ego etc etc came into place) - because there is no such mention in thai and brahma is given prime respect there...
Brahmanism is present in Thailand since the influence of Khmer people starting in the 10th century. Thai people seized Angkor, in Cambodia, in 1431.
Brahmanism was the religion reserved for high rank people. Still nowadays there are some Brahmanist priests taking part in royal ceremonies such as the Royal Ploughing,royal events (marriage, birth, coronation, death, birthday), the cut of the topknot ("CHUK"). The child's head is shaved except for a topknot. This topknot is supposed to keep the child's soul inside the corpse. It can not flee. When the child is old enough, the topknot is cut by Brahmins...THIS IS OUR KUDUMI
The huge swing near "WAT SUTHAT" is a Brahmanisy symbol in Bangkok. It was closed more than fifty years ago due to mortal accidents. The aim was to go as high as possible in the sky. Bangkok Swing
In Thailand, many Brahmanist statues can be seen in old Khmer temples, in Buddhism temples. Thai people say "as there are many gods, one might listen to the request".
Many Brahma shrines can be found in Bangkok in front of major buildings, on skyscrapers' roof. Brahma shrine
Presence of the royal white elephants is still a Brahmanist presence. The white elephants are supposed to bring luck to the King and the Kingdom. This caused a war to happen between Burma and Ayuthaya kingdom. The Burmese king wanted white elephants living in Ayuthaya Royal court.
Dance for Brahma god
The famous Erawan shrine is containing a four faces Brahma. This shrine is supposed to bring luck. When making a request one must bring a gift: flowers, garlands, elephants made of wood, banknotes, food, dances and so on... When requesting something, one shall promise a reward if the wish happens. This act is called "KAE BON". If one does not give the reward, one shall beware of the spirit revenge.
Brahma god at Erawan shrine
In February 2000 a multi-faith ceremony happened in the Thai Parliament. Buddhist, Christian, Brahmanist and Islamic rites were performed one after another. Since the last election in November 1996, 8 MP have died and 11 MP have resigned. Those priests were supposed to expelled bad luck from parliament.