Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Hinduism in Thailand
Summary
Hinduism in Thailand is a minority religion followed by 84,400 (0.1%) of the population as of 2020. Despite being a Buddhist-majority nation, Thailand has a very strong Hindu influence. The majority of Thai Hindus reside in Bangkok, Chonburi, and Phuket.
Although Thailand has never been a majority-Hindu country, it has been influenced by Hinduism. Despite the fact that today Thailand is a Buddhist-majority country, many elements of Thai culture and symbolism demonstrate Hindu influences and heritage. Southeast Asia, including what is now Thailand, has been in contact with Hinduism through India for over 2000 years. Indian settlement in Southeast Asia has been ongoing since the 6th century BCE and has continued into the modern era, influenced by various socioeconomic and political factors. Tamil and Gujarati immigrants migrated to Thailand in the late 1800s, working in the gem and textile industries, followed by a larger migration of both Sikhs and Hindus from Punjab in the 1890s.
The popular Thai epic Ramakien is based on the Buddhist Dasaratha Jataka, which is a Thai variant of the Hindu epic Ramayana. The national emblem of Thailand depicted Garuda, the vahana (mount) of Vishnu.
The city Ayutthaya, near Bangkok, is named after Ayodhya, the birthplace of Rama. Numerous rituals derived from Hinduism are preserved in rituals, such as the use of holy strings and pouring of water from conch shells. Furthermore, Hindu-Buddhist deities are worshiped by many Thais, such as Brahma at the famous Erawan Shrine, and statues of Ganesh, Indra, and Shiva. Reliefs in temple walls, such as the 12th-century Prasat Sikhoraphum near Surin (Thailand), show a dancing Shiva, with smaller images of Parvati, Vishnu, Brahma, and Ganesha.
The Devasathan is a Hindu temple established in 1784 by King Rama I. The temple is the centre of Hindus in Thailand. The royal court Brahmins operate the temple and perform several royal ceremonies per year.
An annual Giant Swing ceremony known as Triyampavai-Tripavai was held in major cities of Thailand until 1935, when it was abolished for safety reasons.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.