Erawan Museum

The Elephant of the universe

There is a myth about the god Indre, the greatest god of paradise, that says that wherever he goes, he rides his personal elephant called Erawan, which be fore each journey will transform itself into a 16,000-meter-tallwhite elephant with 33 heads. The middle head is the seat of Indra, while the rest of the heads are the seats of his assistant gods. Each of the elephant’s heads features seven tusks, and each tusk has seven clumps of lotus. Each clump of lotus has seven lotus flowers with seven petals each. There are seven angels staying in each petal, each with seven assistant angels.





This myth has been told among Buddhists and Hindus since ancient times, and it was this myth that inspired the biggest art creation ever in Thailand-the Erawan Museum, a grandiose project initiated by Lek Viriyapant. The enormous body of the Erawan Elephant amazes viewers at the very first sight because of its grandeur. The building is 43.60 meters high, or as high as a 17-storybuilding. The elephant it self weights 250 tons but it doesn’t have 33 heads as said in the myth. It features only three heads because Lek didn’t want to create the Erawan Elephant only as the vehicle of the God Indra, but as the elephant of the universe. The building has been designed to give the feeling of holiness, because its main purposeis to house valuable Thai artifacts that have been passed on for ages for the following generations to study. Pagpean Viriyapant, the older son of Lek, was assigned to manage the building project, while Rakchart Srichanken was the creator of the fascinating elephant sculpture.

The three-headed elephant is covered in pure brass. The reason behind this is that when time passes green rust will occur and that will make the elephant’s skin a more characteristic color. There are  three main sections in the building. The lowest floor, called ‘the underwater world,’ exhibits priceless artifacts that are very rare. The second floor is called ‘the world of human being.’ It is magnificently decorated in the five distinctive colors of Thai distinctive colors of Thai benjarong ceramic ware, and was designed by a renowned sculptor from Petchaburi Province. When you look up to the ceiling. A wonderful mosaic made of colored mirrors forms the shape of a world map. This work, created by a German artist, fascinates all visitors.

The top floor in the building is designated as ‘the floor of paradise,’ where many Buddha images and other related religious images are kept. In the future, there will be dust colored paintings regarding the universe on the top of the wall, created by the German artist as well.

The Erawan Museum is another object of pride for all Thai people to show that Thai artists can create astounding world-class sculptures. Don’t worry that you might miss the chance to witness this grand man-made creation, which is considered the work’s biggest elephant sculpture, and took more than nine years to finish. It’s waiting for you at Sumut Prakan Province, just an hour’s drive from central Bangkok.