Bathing ritual offers good luck
The Bangkok National Museum invites everyone to start the Thai New Year in an auspicious way by joining the bathing ritual of Buddha’s relics and guardian statues at Sala Samranmukmat from tomorrow until Saturday.
For only three days, to mark the Songkran festival, the museum will bring out the casket containing the sacred relics of Buddha, as well as nine statues of guardian angels, for members of the public to perform the bathing ritual and pay homage for good fortune.
The statue-bathing practice is influenced by a Hindu belief that every human is born with a personal guardian angel and that there are nine guardian angels in Hindu astrology who protect the lives of humans from birth to death.
The nine guardians include the Sunday Guardian riding a lion (the most powerful guardian among them all), the Monday Guardian riding a horse, the Tuesday Guardian riding a buffalo, the Wednesday Guardian riding an elephant, the Thursday Guardian riding a deer, the Friday Guardian riding a cow, the Saturday Guardian riding a tiger, the Rahu Guardian riding a Garuda and the Ket Guardian riding a naga.
The nine floating sculptures on show are unique for the perfect proportions that make them look real and lively. The Bangkok National Museum is on Na Phra That Road and is open Wednesday to Sunday, 9am-4pm.
There is no admission fee. Call 02-224-1333 or 02-224-1402.