Love, Compassion, Joy, and Charity— Phra Phrom in Taiwan

Cathy Teng　/　photos Chen Mei-ling　/　tr. by Geof Aberhart)

September 2016

中文日本語 ไทย

Legend has it that every Thursday Phra Phrom, the four-faced god, patrols the earthly plane. In an alley off of Taipei City’s Changchun Road, every day a constant stream of people come to pay their respects to Phra Phrom, from uniformed students to besuited office workers. Each person comes bearing flowers and incense, the white smoke curling into the air as though lifting worshippers’ prayers to the heavens and to the four-faced god himself.

In Taiwan, Phra Phrom is also known as the “Four-Faced Awakened One.” Small shrines, each containing a golden statue of him, can be found in corners and alleys all over Thailand. One distinctive trait of these shrines is the lack of walls and doors, and perhaps that’s part of the reason he is so close to Thai people’s hearts. Some people see similarities between Phra Phrom’s place in Thailand and Taiwan’s omnipresent shrines to Tudi Gong, the Earth God. However, Phra Phrom is actually of a much higher echelon, being the Thai version of the Hindu creator god Brahma.

The Changchun Phra Phrom statue was the first to be invited to Taiwan over three decades ago, and in the time since it has attracted a constant stream of worshippers.

Answering the call

With the region so strongly influenced by Hinduism, Phra Phrom is worshipped throughout Southeast Asia, but particularly in Thailand. After construction began on the Erawan Hotel in Bangkok in 1956, it was beset with a raft of problems and accidents. Soon after, the owners commissioned a shrine to Phra Phrom to help eliminate the “bad karma” around the operation and ensure the hotel could be successfully completed. The high profile of this incident helped spread the name and reputation of Phra Phrom throughout Asia, making the shrine a must-visit destination for tourists.

Most statues of Phra Phrom are seated and cross-legged. They have eight arms and four faces, the faces representing love, compassion, joy, and charity. He is positioned to face the four cardinal directions, each responsible for luck in a different area. Going clockwise, the first face oversees work and study; the second, love and romance; the third, money; and the fourth, health and family. With regard to the orientation of the faces, there is some debate. Some say the “love” face should look west, while others say it should face the direction of the most populated area so as to have his blessings spread to as many as possible.

Small shrines to Phra Phrom set up on Taiwanese streets host golden statues of the god, and are notable for their lack of temple walls and gates.

The booming Changchun shrine

The first Phra Phrom statue to be set up in Taiwan was located an alley by the Leofoo Hotel on Taipei’s Changchun Road. It was brought to Taiwan from Thailand in 1984 by Leofoo Enterprises founder Chuang Fu. Located near several office buildings, the statue is most visited by office workers praying for luck in work or money. Many students also come to pay their respects in hopes of good luck in their exams, and sometimes believers from out of town even make special trips to worship at the statue.

“A flower for a prayer?” At a neighboring flower stand, the attendant calls out to first-time visitors. Phra Phrom is said to love fresh flowers, and so many of the faithful will bring flowers with them. This has led to florists booming in the area, with some seven or eight within a hundred meters of the shrine. Phra Phrom is also renowned for being very responsive, which is part of the reason that over the past 30-plus years the shrine has maintained a strong flow of worshippers. From his small space, Phra Phrom seems to be looking out over the wreaths and bouquets left for him and the people who come to ask for his help through life’s challenges, entrusting him with their hopes as they stand before him at their most sincere.

Usually seated in a half-lotus position, Phra Phrom has four faces and four pairs of arms, with each face oriented toward one of the cardinal directions and overseeing fortunes in a different aspect of life.

Shows of appreciation

Gao Zhenzhong, who works in the finance industry, previously visited Thailand with a group of friends to worship Phra Phrom. Over the years that followed, not only did his company successfully weather the Great Recession, but it even expanded in scale from a hundred people to a thousand, thriving in otherwise troubled times. Eager to repay the favor Phra Phrom had shown him, in 2011 Gao “invited” a statue from Thailand to Changhua’s Tianwei, the biggest center of the flower trade in Taiwan, to be showered with offerings. He even invited a Thai Buddhist master to oversee the consecration ceremony and commissioned an art professor from Tunghai University to lead a team of students through the creation of the statue’s podium. The tributes and ceremonies were all in the Thai style, with offerings of chrysanthemums and carved wooden elephants.

With the statue located in a tourist area, it is visited by masses of people every weekend, with the faithful coming mostly from out of town. As for the fastest turnaround, Gao tells the story of one man who came to seek help recovering a debt from a long-lost friend, and almost as soon as he walked away, he got a call from said friend. He immediately came back to show his appreciation.

The shrine, meanwhile, regularly donates any funds left after expenses to local schools, elderly people living alone, and rural Aboriginal villages, as well as occasionally inviting Thai masters to give believers mystical tattoos. All of this is in order to give back to the community. Every weekend, Thai students studying at National Chung Hsing University dance for the statue in thanks, honored to have the opportunity to serve the Four-Faced Awakened One.

The Phra Phrom shrine in Tianwei, Changhua County, often invites students from Thailand studying in Taiwan to dance for the statue as part of the faithful’s efforts to repay Phra Phrom’s kindness.

A taste of Thailand in Taoyuan

Set up in 2013, the Namchow Phra Phrom statue is located in the Namchow Group’s plant in Guishan, Taoyuan City. Having built a name in the chemicals industry, the Namchow Group has recently expanded into food products, particularly baked goods. During the 1990s, the group invested in a plant in Thailand. In appreciation of the supportive investment policies of the Thai government, for the group’s 60th anniversary they not only opened a tourist factory at Guishan, but also brought over a Phra Phrom statue from Thailand to be set up within the plant for the workers to worship. This gave spiritual sustenance to the many Thai workers at the plant, despite their being so far from home. Situated away from the commercial areas, the statue provides visitors with an atmosphere of peace and solemnity.

The Namchow Phra Phrom statue has come not just to symbolize the warm relationship between Thailand and Taiwan, but according to the plant director, since its arrival business at the plant has boomed, with any and all difficult issues being resolved smoothly. Experiences like this shine some light on why, in the wake of the Erawan Shrine bombing in Bangkok last year, so many ceremonies were held in Taiwan to send blessings to Thailand.

The rites around Phra Phrom in Taiwan have been influenced by local folk religion, with various aspects of traditional Taiwanese worship incorporated into them. This photo shows a lot container for a Phra Phrom statue in Zhonghe District, New Taipei City.

When in Taiwan....

Since the first Phra Phrom statue arrived in Taiwan over 30 years ago, Taiwan is estimated to have become home to almost 100 statues. Over that time the rituals and customs around Phra Phrom have begun to adapt to Taiwanese life. For example, Taiwan’s important traditional festivals are all timed around the lunar calendar. In line with this practice, the 9th day of the 11th lunar month has become the “holy birthday” of Phra Phrom. Similarly, the ceremonies are taking on Taiwanese elements. Thai ceremonies are traditionally brief, with an offering of flowers, then of incense, followed by a prayer. Chinese-Thai dancer Xu Meiling describes the procedure thus: one should light 12 sticks of incense and plant three in front of each face of the statue, going clockwise around. But this reporter has observed that in Taiwan, it’s more common for worshippers to plant just one incense stick in front of each face. Other elements of traditional folk religion, like throwing divination blocks, drawing lots, and presenting offerings, have also been incorporated into Phra Phrom ceremonies. Appreciation dances in Taiwan are also more lively, featuring traditional Thai dance, samba, and street dance. However, these ceremonies can seem to lack the solemn reverence of their Thai counterparts, says Xu.

While they are aware of the foreign origins of the ceremonies, the Taiwanese have taken to worshipping Phra Phrom in their own way. Of course, it is inevitable that such a transplant would be influenced by its new host culture. However, sincerity rises above earthly forms, and so as long as the worship is sincere, the gods will understand the intent regardless of seemingly “taboo” practices. In the end, sincerity is the one true way to communicate with these higher powers.

The Namchow Phra Phrom statue has become a place where Thai workers can find a little spiritual sustenance far from home. The photo shows the consecration ceremony held when the statue was set up in 2013. (courtesy of Namchow Recreational Factory)