Erawan Museum

The desire to properly store the massive collection of business tycoon Lek Viriyapant gave birth to perhaps one of Thailand’s most iconic museums. Home to a gargantuan statue of an Erawan elephant, a thirty-three-headed Hindu mythological creature, the Erawan Museum showcases the apex of intricate craftsmanship and religious iconography. The ground floor, meant to represent the underworld where the snake god (naga) resides, houses Khun Lek’s collection of antiques such as Chinese porcelain, Benjarong ceramics and jade ornaments. The second level or the human world exhibits an eclectic blend of Western and Eastern elements, including a stained-glassed ceiling depicting the roof of the world and the Western Zodiac. The color-splashed top floor, which represents Trayastrimsa or the second heaven in Buddhist cosmology, is arguably the most beautiful, and is used as a repository of ancient Buddha images.