Spirit Houses, so that you don’t get spooked !!
Buddhist Temples | June 28, 2010Need to unwind and grow spiritually all at the same time ?Let us look at the happy people in Bangkok; where the locals here are quite superstitious and strikingly spiritual. Though almost the entire population here are Buddhists, yet the supernatural inclinations are rooted in Hinduism and Animism even. Therefore, most Thai people have many deeply rooted beliefs in ‘Nagas’ – water snakes, local spirits, tree nymphs, ghosts, land gods and many other deities !
Because of these beliefs, when a new house or a building is built here; people believe that the ghosts lose their homes or resting places and get angry. When this happens; the people involved get cursed and get accident prone. And keep experiencing bad events!Hence, to calm the spirits down, the Thais build spirit house so that the wandering angered spirits can find a new home and be at rest once again.
The spirit houses look quite unique actually! Closely resembling a doll house, the spirit houses are tiny buildings with decorative and religious articles. The effect that all this has on the local people is quite extra-ordinary. Daily offerings of food, water and beautiful flowers are quite commonly made to the tiny spirit houses.
By doing this, the local people and land owners feel secure and anticipate huge success as they believe that, now; since the spirits are happy, they will reward the locals in appreciation.A lot of Business and houses have a miniature temple build at an auspicious spot in the house, where in, the temple is placed on a pillar. This way the spirits would make their homes here and bring prosperity to the owner. Now, isn’t that something !!
Also while you are here, you should definitively check out the International Buddhist Meditation Center, inside Wat Mahathat. This place offers free meditation classes thrice a day. Whats better is, if you can speak a little of the local language and maybe understand even, then you may even want to retreat to a quiet temple on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Some of the other famous temples in the region are:
- The Grand Palace.
- Wat Pho.
- Wat Arun.
Within the palace grounds lies the most sacred temple in the whole of Thailand. Wat Phra Kaew which is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.This temple unlike other temples, is not just one building and it does not have a place where monks can live. However, it is a collection of well decorated monuments and holy buildings. Truly a beautiful sight!!
So embark on a spiritually enveloping journey which is both scenic and splendid! Experience the delicious Thai cuisine and take back some unforgettable memories.
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Spirit Worship is as old as mankind itself.When Buddhism came to Southeast Asia, it developed side by side with the ancient spirit religion.Animistic practices still exist in Thailand. One of these which is practiced by every Thai is the Spirit House.
The purpose of the Spirit House is to provide an appealing shelter for the spirits, or celestial beings, who would otherwise reside in the heavens, Find a place in large trees, or in caves, cliffs. waterfalls or other natural surroundings. According to folklore, the spirits themselves are either good or evil, but most are just finicky and mischievous, demanding respect from humans and capable of disastrous interferences if they don’t get their way, The spirit of the land, for example. expects to be informed when a human intends to start a business or engage in improvements to an existing business.
If the spirit is not informed, and if the human does not respectfully request permission, the spirit can indeed cause the venture to fail.