A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that are found in the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Most houses and businesses have a spirit house placed in an auspicious spot, most often in a corner of the property. The location may be chosen after consultation with a Brahmin priest. The spirit house is normally in the form of a miniature house or temple, and is mounted on a pillar or on a dais.
The house is intended to provide a shelter for spirits which could cause problems for the people if not appeased. The shrines often include images of people and animals. Votive offerings are left at the house to propitiate the spirits. More elaborate installations include an altar for this purpose.
This spirit house - complete with miniature porcelain figurines is placed outside a Tesco Lotus on my street. Notice the red Fanta bottles that have been left as offerings, it is almost always red Fanta that gets offered at spirit houses - it must be the gods favorite! :)
In addition to outdoor shrines, homes and businesses also have them indoors, similar to ancient Roman Lares Familiares.
@wendyhgill - I'm not sure who decided :) I think maybe it is something about the meaning of the color red, like for Chinese people the color red is very powerful and a lot of Bangkokians are of Chinese decent.
September 22nd, 2013
Leave a Comment
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
