Bangkok Blast: All you need to know about the Erawan Shrine that houses Thai avatar of Brahma

The Erawan Shrine, located at the centre of the Thai capital of Bangkok was reportedly where the explosion took place on Monday, killing at least 12 people and injuring several others.

The shrine was built in 1956 as part of the government-owned Erawan Hotel to ward off misfortune. It was believed that the hotel suffered from bad karma owing to laying its foundation on the wrong date. The site is very popular with tourists and often has performances by dance troupes hired by worshippers. 

The Erawan Shrine houses a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai avatar of the god Brahma, who Hindus consider the creator of the universe. In Thai culture, he is considered a deity of good fortune and protection. Worshippers usually offer incense, jasmine flowers or candles and coconut milk. Each of his four heads represent different aspects and he is believed to be an admirer of Thai classical music. Worshippers of the deity abstain from eating meat and believe that if they fail to keep a promise made to the deity, they will face bad fate. Outside Thailand, the avatar is mostly known as the four-faced Buddha.

In March 2006, the shrine was vandalised by a mentally-ill 27-year-old man called Thanakorn Pakdeepol who was then beaten to death by angry bystanders. The statue was restored in two months. There were some rumours that the man had ties to Muslim extremists but the slain man's father claimed that his son was receiving psychiatric help. He was quoted saying by The Nation: “Doing something like this is not the act of people with good beliefs, of those with real faith in Brahma,. Murder is an immoral act and people with morality would not have done what they did." Some critics of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had claimed that he was responsible, a claim that the ex-PM had denied.