New shrine in 10 days
People worship the new Thao Maha Phrom statue during the statue’s gold-coating ceremony at the Culture Ministry’s ‘Top Ten Artists’ bureau in Nakhon Pathom yesterday.
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People will be able to pay their respects to the new Thao Maha Phrom statue at the Erawan Shrine in 10 days' time, after a deranged man smashed the old one to pieces with a hammer.
Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, at a Brahmin ceremony to coat the statue with gold leaf, said the ceremony came a week earlier than planned because of the hard work from a Culture Ministry team known as the "Top Ten Artists". Brahmin priests are now plotting the date for an enshrining ceremony. A procession carrying the new statue - a copy of the original - will pass important locations in Bangkok, such as the Giant Swing and the Emerald Buddha Temple, before the statue is enshrined, Surakiart said. About 10 days after the new statue's enshrining ceremony, the Top Ten Artists will make a replica, cast from nine blended holy metals (including gold, silver and copper), which will then be housed at the National Museum, Surakiart said. On March 21, a man with a history of mental illness smashed the much-revered Thao Maha Phrom statue to pieces with a hammer, shocking devotees. The caretaker government ordered a replacement of the Ratchaprasong landmark to be made quickly.
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