Pra Narai—Takuapa Town, Phang-nga Province, Thailand. - Statues of Religious Figures on Waymarking.com

Takuapa is a regional town in the province of Phang-nga, 700 kms south of Bangkok. In this town, opposite the town council offices, there is a park, named Pranarai Park, which contains a statue of Pra Narai. Pra Narai is the Thai Buddhist interpretation of the Indian/Hindu god Vishnu. Vishnu is the supreme Hindu god.

The belief in Pra Narai for the Thai people dates to the late first millenium AD, when Indian traders and travellers carried the story to south east Asia. The early Thai kingdoms of the 12th and 13th centuries produced a Thai style version of the story. This trend has continued and there is now a Thai version of the Hindu original named Ramayana. The current version of this used in Thailand was produced two centuries ago by the first king of the current dynasty, Rama I.

There are two plaques on the plinth. The first, so I am told, tells the visitor to treat this statue in the same manner as the Buddha. The second details the history of the statue. Land was granted by the town council in 2525 BE (1982 AD), and construction cost a total of 290,000 Thai baht (~us$9,000 in 2011).

The statue clearly has the respect of the town folk. During my short visit maybe a dozen people came by. However, there are two 'firecracker chambers' present at the statue. These are chambers into which can be placed a 'chain' of 100s of firecrackers, which are then lit. My hotel was not too far from this spot, and I heard firecrackers lit well into the night.

Associated Religion(s): Hindu/Buddhism. Statue Location: Pranarai Park, Takuapa. Entrance Fee: free. Artist: Unknown. Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the statue. A waymarker and/or GPSr is not required to be in the image but it doesn't hurt.

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