Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine a good luck charm which turned to horror

A popular golden shrine in central Bangkok dedicated to the Hindu god of creation, Brahma, was turned into a scene of death and destruction when at least 21 people were killed by a bomb planted nearby yesterday.

Until last night, the Erawan Shrine was a popular tourist attraction in Bangkok’s busy shopping district of Pathum Wan, near the city centre.

Constructed in 1956 by then government-owned Erawan Hotel, it was intended to help purge the bad luck which was believed to plague the new hotel’s early stages of construction.

After consulting with an astrologer, the decision was made to construct a golden statue to honour the four-faced Brahma, Than Tao Mahaprom, to grant the building good luck.

The old Erawan Hotel was torn down in 1991 and replaced by the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, but the shrine remained and became a popular attraction for tourists and locals, who all paid their respects to it.

In fact, it was so popular that when it was defaced in March 2006 by a man with a hammer, he was beaten to death by bystanders.