Brahmanical divinities in Siam: From early to modern era

Abstract

The relation between India and her neighbouring Southeast Asian countries dates back to prehistoric times. By the fourth-fifth century, there was a clear Indian influence in sociopolitics and culture of different kingdoms of Southeast Asia. India has got a healthy interaction with Siam (present Thailand) since pre-Common Era. The present paper focuses on brahmanical divinities of Siam since the early times. We notice the Indian trimurti, i.e. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, in Siam since the early era. Comparing to other two, we find a large number of Vishnu images in different regions of Siam. Apart from the three, we noticed the images of Krisna, Surya, Skanda, Ganesha, Uma and Mahisasuramardini in Siam.