Devasathan

About

Devasathan (เทวสถานโบสถ์พราหมณ์, 'Abode of the Gods'), also known as the Royal Brahmin Office of the Thai Royal Court, is a Hindu Temple precinct near Wat Suthat in the Phra Nakhon District of Bangkok. It is the official centre of Hinduism in Thailand, founded in 1784 by King Rama I, founder of the ruling Chakri dynasty.

The Temple is the home of the Court Brahmins, a hereditary lineage of priests traditionally traced to Rāmeśvaram in Tamil Nadu, India. The Brahmins of Devasathan officiate at many of the most important state ceremonies of the Thai monarchy each year, from coronations and royal birthdays to seasonal rites of agricultural and cosmic renewal.

Within its white precinct walls stand three large shrines aligned east to west. The southern Phra Isuan Shrine (สถานพระอิศวร) is the centre of Śaiva worship, with a great bronze of Śiva beneath a white canopy, flanked by dancing Śivas and images of Umā and Nandi. The central Phra Phikkhanesuan Shrine (สถานพระพิฆเนศวร) holds five seated Gaṇeśas in granite, sandstone, bronze, and green stone. The northern Phra Narai Shrine (สถานพระนารายณ์) is the centre of Vaiṣṇava worship, with a large image of Viṣṇu accompanied by smaller mūrtis of Lakṣmī and Bhū-devī. A small outdoor shrine to Brahma (Phra Phrom) stands nearby.

In front of the precinct rises the Giant Swing (Sao Chingcha), once used for the Triyamphwāy ceremony, a rite drawn from the south Indian Temple tradition that was last performed in 1935.

History

King Rama I raised Devasathan in 1784, the same year he founded Bangkok itself, to give his new capital a home for the Court Brahmins, a priestly lineage descended from the Temple town of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. Those Brahmin families have crowned kings and blessed royal births ever since, and to this day lead the Hindu rites of the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony each May, sowing the first blessed rice seed at Sanam Luang before the King's own palace. For generations a rite called the Triyampavai-Tripavai sent a priest swinging high above Dinso Road on the great wooden Giant Swing that still stands before the Temple gate, until the ceremony was discontinued in 1935.

Significance

Devasathan is the living centre of Hinduism in Thailand, a place where a Tamil priestly lineage has served a Buddhist throne in unbroken devotion for more than two centuries. Its three shrine halls, raised to Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, and Lord Vishnu, stand together with a small golden image of Lord Brahma just inside the entrance, making Devasathan one of the rare precincts on earth where all four of these great forms are honoured side by side.

Architecture

Early Rattanakosin period Thai Temple architecture: three white walled shrine halls under multi tiered orange tiled roofs, set on an east to west axis within a single walled precinct