DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post

**leyliana** · 05-29-2010, 12:51 PM

Aloka-D #10:
In Thailand the interiors of the Theravada temples are quite ornate aren't they ?...or am I thinking of somewhere else ?

The impression l have had is that the lay-people are very devout,so decorating the temple/shrine room is an extension of this.

I had this impression when there as well - a sign of how much the people value Buddhism by making the places of worship ornate - a offering of respect and devotion. Perhaps involving self sacrifice in terms of giving of their own incomes, when they also need these for individual survival, to do so - the end result is perhaps the cumulative outcome of devotees self sacrifices / offerings, with the government included and perhaps a portion of tax dollars going into Temple creation and maintenance? On a more cynical side perhaps also a big tourist earner for Thailand, so is also a way to attract tourist dollars, by having these ornate temples to visit?

05-29-2010, 12:51 PM	#15
leyliana Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 476 Senior Member	Aloka-D #10: In Thailand the interiors of the Theravada temples are quite ornate aren't they ?...or am I thinking of somewhere else ? The impression l have had is that the lay-people are very devout,so decorating the temple/shrine room is an extension of this. I had this impression when there as well - a sign of how much the people value Buddhism by making the places of worship ornate - a offering of respect and devotion. Perhaps involving self sacrifice in terms of giving of their own incomes, when they also need these for individual survival, to do so - the end result is perhaps the cumulative outcome of devotees self sacrifices / offerings, with the government included and perhaps a portion of tax dollars going into Temple creation and maintenance? On a more cynical side perhaps also a big tourist earner for Thailand, so is also a way to attract tourist dollars, by having these ornate temples to visit?
	Quote