Thailand. Faith is everywhere. Pt.1

I live in Thailand and do a lot of photos here. It is my way of understanding the country, its culture and people. In this blog post I will show my impressions, feelings and thoughts about Thailand. My thoughts about Laos you can read at this post. As is usual for me, these photos are a reflection of those spiritual, historical and cultural layers, which I see and feel. So, the main aim for me during creation of such photos is to reflect those things that show THROUGH the materiality of our world. With every photo I'm giving my comments, that will help to understand the photo.

Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan ("Temple of Dawn"), Bangkok, Thailand. The temple derives its name from the Hindu god Aruna, often personified as the radiations of the rising sun. The central prang (temple tower) is topped with a seven-pronged trident, referred to by many sources as the "Trident of Shiva". In the Buddhist iconography, the central prang is considered to have three symbolic levels—base for Traiphum indicating all realms of existence, middle for Tavatimsa where all desires are gratified and top denoting Devaphum indicating six heavens within seven realms of happiness. This fact can be considered as a reflection of the Holy Trinity in Buddhism.

Wat Arun at daytime, Bangkok, Thailand. It's felt by Chinese influence also, but the main influence remains Khmer-Cambodian. The feelings of this temple do not match those inspired by other traditional Thai Buddhist temples. This temple is felt as more ancient, more dark and a non-100% Buddhist force...

Erawan museum/temple, Bangkok, Thailand. Airavata is a mythological white elephant who carries the Hindu god Indra. Airavata also stands at the entrance to Svarga, Indra's palace. It is known as Erawan in Thai. It is depicted as a huge elephant with either three or sometimes thirty-three heads which are often shown with more than two tusks.

Shrine inside Erawan belly, Erawan museum/temple, Bangkok, Thailand. Sanctuary reminds visitors of the two worlds, which are present in all that exists - the physical world and its reflection, spiritual world.

Main hall of the Erawan museum/temple, Bangkok, Thailand. It represents the unity of all world religions. In the foreground is the underside of a ladder, which symbolizes the temptations and doubts that await anyone who climbs the stairs of his faith.

Vishnu rises... He is the Supreme God of Vaishnavism, one of the three most influential denominations in contemporary Hinduism. He is one of the five primary forms of God in the Smarta tradition, and "the Preserver" among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine.

Wat Saket (The Golden Mount), Bangkok, Thailand. Green statue it is Indra depicted according to canonical traditions. Thai people considered Indra to be keeper and defender of Bangkok (Krung Thep Maha Nakhon).

Trimurti shrine, Bangkok, Thailand. The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver and Shiva the destroyer or transformer. These three gods have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity". All three gods are considered to be different aspects of Brahman - "the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world", which "cannot be exactly defined". Trimurti also represents love and unity.

In Asia, death — and its deity, Shiva — is often seen as an integral part of the eternal cycle of the world. For the new to be born, the old must die; in the deepest darkness, the brightest light is seen. Suffering, hardship and failure only teach us to truly value the present moments of simple happiness, to recalibrate our moral compass, and to experience the fullness of life…

The Assumption Cathedral, Bangkok, Thailand. There are not only beautiful Buddhist temples in Thailand. For example, it is the main church of the Archdiocese of Bangkok and the largest Catholic church in Thailand.

To be continued...