Questions of faith

Montian Phueng-rattana, a member of the temple’s sacred object committee, says that very few people came to make merit at the temple before the pink Ganesh statue.

‘‘The current abbot prayed and asked if there was any deity who would make people come to the temple more and he had a vision of Ganesh in the same lying position as the statue you see now. There are a lot of people here because there are people whose wishes were granted, so they come back again. Building small things wouldn’t attract the people here,’’ explains. It’s hard to explain faith, and harder to distinguish when faith is being used as virtuous guidance or as something less noble. While many adhere to the former, Siripoj, the independent scholar, believes that building big religious monuments has something to do with commercial reasons.

‘‘I have no idea why and I don’t understand how size can relate to sacredness. The tradition for building massive statues may result from the tradition of Buddhists of the Mahayana school who worship the cosmic Buddha, which they tend to build in massive sizes, believing that the cosmic is the one who created everything in the world. Maybe Thais have taken on this tradition and it works commercially as well,’’ he says.

Ganesh is often depicted with a rat, which is his vehicle, and some people believe that when making a wish to Ganesh, one should also whisper into the ear of the rat as well so that it will remind Ganesh of that wish.

What’s rather odd about the rat sculptures around a pink Ganesh statue at Saman Rattanaram temple is not their looks but how each of them is carrying a money box labelled: ‘‘Give bribe to the all-seeing-eye rat, every wish will be granted.’’ This may be just a variation of the way many religious houses around the country solicit donations, but the use of the word ‘‘bribe’’ could prick many ears and conscience. Siripoj says that in Ganesh mythology, there’s no such a thing as bribing the rat.

‘‘It’s obvious that this is an invented tradition, to make it sound old, believable and sacred so that people will come to the temple more,’’ he says.

‘‘In India,’’ explains Varin, the Hindu Ganesh worshipper, ‘‘it’s just a donation, depending on each person’s faith, but this is a Thai adaptation, a gimmick. It should be a donation, not a bribe, and it’s crossing the line when this kind of thing becomes too commercial. It’s faith marketing.’’

In the same way, Komkrit from Silpakorn University believes that this is a marketing plan.

‘‘Building big things in temples is nothing new, and all this is surely to attract people. What’s interesting is how Buddhists do this marketing by bringing a Hindu deity into play. The problem with some Thai Buddhists is how they are always looking for someone special to be their hero, to help them solve the problems, even though Buddhism teaches them to rely on themselves,’’ he says. Though admitting that there has been criticism regarding whether the Saman Rattanaram temple built the statue especially for commercial gain, Montian argues people come to the temple with the intention to make merit.

‘‘The money this temple gets is for building something for the public good, like a centre for practicing dhamma, a school, and now we are building a hospital. Those temples involved in the scandals [in the news] don’t build anything, and the money just keeps piling up.’’ Regarding the bribery of the rat, he says there are two sides in this kind of issue.

‘‘We are not holding a knife and forcing you to put in 20 or 100 baht,’’ he says. ‘‘It’s making merit. You can whisper your wish into the rat’s ear without giving any money. We are not forcing you. It depends on each person’s belief.’’

But to many people coming to pay respect to the pink Ganesh statue, whether the temple uses it as a commercial tool is not important.

Wanantaya Phatthanapirom, 22, says that she doesn’t care whether this is commercial or not.

‘‘I have never thought about it, I am just here at the temple to make merit, that is all.’’

Nicha Sangkharom, 41, says that she believes in Ganesh and tries to whisper her wish into the rat’s ear to see if it will come true.

‘‘I put in my money and it’s making merit to support the temple. There may be a commercial element to it, but I’m here with a pure intention to make merit. Once I have done that, I really don’t care where the money goes.’’