page_title: Ganesha in world religions
section_title: In Thailand
hierarchical_section_title: Ganesha in world religions / Southeast Asia / In Thailand
caption_attribution_description: English: Ganesha at of the merumat of King Bhumibol Adulyadej
context_page_description: India and Hinduism has influenced many countries of East Asia and the Indian Subcontinent as a result of commercial and cultural contacts. Ganesha is one of many Hindu deities who reached foreign lands as a result. The worship of Ganesha by Hindus outside of New Era India shows that the religion is ancient and followed worldwide. Infact, Hindu was coined recently as religion but it was used to be called "Sanatana Dharma". The acceptance of Hindu ideas in ancient times still continue today in world religions. You dig anywhere on this planet, one can find Indian god's idols show that the "Sanatana Dharma" was everywhere few thousands years back.
  Ganesha was a deity particularly worshipped by traders and merchants, who went out of India for commercial ventures. The period from approximately the tenth century onwards was marked by the development of new networks of exchange, the formation of trade guilds, and a resurgence of money circulation, and it was during this time that Ganesha became the principal deity associated with traders. The earliest inscription where Ganesha is invoked before any other deity is by the merchant community.
context_section_description: In Thailand, Ganesha is called Phra Phikanet (พระพิฆเนศ) or Phra Phikanesuan (พระพิฆเนศวร) and is worshipped as the deity of fortune and success, and the remover of obstacles. He is associated with arts, education and trade. Ganesha appears in the emblem of the Department of Fine Arts  in Thailand. Large television channels and production companies have shrines in his honour in front of their premises. Few movies or television shows begin shooting without a Hindu ritual in which prayers and offerings are made to Ganesha.
  There are shrines to Ganesha across Thailand. One of the most revered shrines is the Royal Brahmin Temple in central Bangkok by the Giant Swing, where some of the oldest images can be found. Other old Ganesha images can be seen throughout Thailand, including a 10th-century bronze image found at Phang-Na with both Tamil and Thai inscriptions. The Hindu temple Wat Phra Sri Umadevi in Silom also houses a Ganesha image which was transported from India in the late 19th century.
  Thai Buddhists frequently pay respect to Ganesha and other Hindu deities as a result of the overlapping Buddhist/Hindu cosmology.
  He is honoured with Motaka, sweets and fruit, when business is good, and he is made ridiculous by putting his picture or statue upside down, when business is down. As lord of business and diplomacy, he sits on a high pedestal outside Bangkok's  CentralWorld (formerly World Trade Center), where people offer flowers, incense and a reverential sawasdee.
  Chachoengsao  is known as the "city of Ganesha in Thailand", with 3 huge Hindu-Buddhist deity Ganesha (Phra Phikanet or พระพิฆเนศ in thai language) statues in 3 different temples around Chachoengsao: 49 meters tall sitting Ganesha at "Phrong Akat Temple" which is the tallest sitting Ganesha in Thailand, 39 meters high standing Ganesha at "Khlong Khuean Ganesh International Park" which is the tallest standing Ganesha in Thailand, and 16 meters high and 22 meters long reclining Ganesha at "Saman Wattanaram Temple".
caption: Ganesha at of the merumat of King Bhumibol Adulyadej
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