Erawan Shrine (San Phra Phrom)

The Erawan Shrine was erected in 1956 beside what was then the Erawan Hotel in central Bangkok, reportedly after a series of mishaps during the hotel’s construction were attributed to inauspicious timing in laying its foundation; a shrine to Phra Phrom — the Thai devotional form of the Hindu god Brahma — was built to counter this perceived ill fortune. Despite its Hindu iconographic origin, the shrine functions today primarily within Thai folk-animist and Buddhist devotional practice rather than as a Hindu temple in the conventional sense: it is one of Bangkok’s most visited devotional sites, drawing worshippers seeking blessings for wealth, career, and relationships, with traditional Thai dance troupes frequently hired to perform as offerings.

The shrine’s statue has twice been the target of violence. In 2006 a man destroyed the original image with a hammer and was killed by a bystander crowd; a replacement statue, incorporating fragments of the original along with gold, bronze, and other materials, was installed within weeks. In August 2015, a bomb detonated near the shrine, killing 20 people and injuring roughly 125 in one of the deadliest attacks in modern Bangkok’s history; the shrine’s statue itself was only lightly damaged and repairs were completed within days. The shrine remains in continuous use today, though since March 2020 incense and candles have been prohibited there for environmental and health reasons.