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Altar in the Right Corner of the Bang Khun Thian Temple (โรงเจมหาโพธิสัตว์กวนอิม) (菩薩壇)

From the Ground Up: Buddhism & East Asian Religions (FROGBEAR Project)

Bang Khun Thian (โรงเจมหาโพธิสัตว์กวนอิม) (菩薩壇) is a three-winged Guanyin (觀音) temple in Bangkok, Thailand. The temple houses both Buddhist and Daoist deities, even though the main altar is dedicated to Guanyin. The following images show the small altar in the right corner of the Bang Khun Thian temple (โรงเจมหาโพธิสัตว์กวนอิม) (菩薩壇) courtyard. Image 01 shows a perspective of the altar in relation to the temple gate and the right side of the temple courtyard. Image 02 shows an overview of the front of the altar, which is hidden under foliage. The windows on either side have metal work featuring a Yin-Yang (陰陽). Painted on the front is a depiction of mountains and blossoming trees. Image 03 shows a close-up of the altar entrance, and the windows. Image 04 shows a head-on perspective of the inside of the altar, which features an altar table and various portraits hung on the walls. The identity of those depicted in the portraits is unknown. Image 05 shows a close-up of the altar table and portraits on the back wall. Image 06 shows the items atop the altar table, which include a censer with two Chinese "Golden Flower" (金花) offerings and peacock feathers placed inside. This censer is flanked by two electric candles. Image 07 shows a close-up of the censer and candles, which read 興旺財, "prosperous wealth." In front of the censer is a water offering. To the right is a set of Kau cim divination sticks, which is often used in temples to find one's fortune. They are also called Qiu Qian (求籤). To find your fortune, you must rattle the Qiu qian sticks until one falls to the ground (methods vary geographically). In some Chinese Buddhist temples, you must confirm the fortune by throwing the crescent-shaped wooden moons called Moon Blocks, or Jiaobei (筊杯) a maximum of three times to receive confirmation. These Jiaobei can be seen on the left side of this picture (Image 08). A confirmation divination signal is when one moon block lands face up and the other lands face down. If both moons are face down, this is a non-confirmation. In some groups, both moons facing up means the god in question is laughing at you. Image 09 shows a close-up of the portrait on the right wall; Image 10 shows a close-up of the portraits on the back wall, and Image 11 shows a close-up of the portrait on the left wall. The portraits on the right and left walls are the same as the ones on the back wall. Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen.

Bangkok (Thailand); 13.6327428; 100.4072747

chi

Cluster 3.4: Typologies of Text-Image Relations

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0443337

Non UBC

Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate

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