Ganesh Museum

Ganesh museumGanesh Museum is located at Moo 10, 35th kilometer stone of Chiang Mai-Hod Road, Yang Kram Sub-district, Doi Lo District. It is the first and the only museum in Thailand that collects artifacts and statues of “Ganesh”, the God of Success, Fulfillment, Career, Intellect and Luck and also a remover of obstacles through over 1,000 of forms.The Ganesh Museum Chiang Mai was established by Mr. Pundhorn Teerakanon, a Bangkokian who came to work in Chiang Mai. Influenced by the image of the elephant-headed Hindu god he received from his father when he was 19 years old, Pundhorn has been interested in Ganesh for over 30 years. Since then, he has been collecting the varieties of Ganesh images until in 2002 that he decided to buy 5 Rai land to build “the Ganesh Museum” which is aimed to be the learning center and a place of worship for those who have faith in Ganesh.The first thing the tourists will see after the arrival is the Worship Building, the previous main building of the museum that has now become a room for worship and for organizing demonstration of how to worship Ganesh. This building is the only place in the world that exhibits purely wooden-crafted statues of Ganesh and his family. The next site to visit is the Wate Wittayakom Building, a Thai Sala modeled from the residential Sala of M.R. Keugrit Pramoch. The sala is a place for organizing important Ganesh worshipping ceremony during Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Near the sala, there is the Ganesh Dhevalai, a temple of worship built from Pundhorn’s faith towards Ganesh. Every brick used during the construction has been prayed over and inscribed with prayer before they were formed into this Dhevalai. Moreover, inside, the building simulates “Gana Pati” or the world where Ganesh resides. There are also Hall 1 and 2 which are Hindu Bali style architecture buildings. Hall 2 is where exhibits numbers of Ganesh images in various styles which were collected from places around South East Asia. There are still many more interesting buildings that Ganesh worshipper cannot miss to visit in this museum.Visitors can participate in Ganesh worshipping ceremony every Sunday and in important Ganesh-related days at 10.00 am. Ganesh Museum opens daily from 9.00 am.- 5.00 pm. Free entrance. For more information, contact 053024287, 053024288, 0894304050, 089555852 or visit the website, www.ganeshmuseum.com