100 Days in Thailand :: Day 41 - The Leaning Buddha

Today we stopped at The Leaning Buddha to take some pictures and video. Here in Thailand, 99% of the population is Buddhist, and only 1% is Christian. We're finding that it's more than just religion though... it's a part of their culture. They say, "To be Thai, is to be Buddhist."

Here are a few images from our visit....

As beautiful as the gardens and the golden statues were, they really made me sad. The whole place just felt so cold and empty.... it made my heart hurt for the Thai people who put their hope in these things.

But there was more to it than just golden idols - there were some really scary things around too! I don't profess to know much about Buddhism, but apparently (at least in Thailand) fear & intimidation are a huge part of the religion. All the animals we saw around the temples and buddha idols looked terrifying! Check out their red eyes and angry faces....

  

And then there were these.....

A dinosaur....

A giant pumpkin (I mean huge - like, bigger than Cinderella's carriage!)

A cannibal cooking people's heads...

And holding people and a person/bull as slaves in chains...

I'm not trying to be disrespectful at all by posting these - there are many Thai people here that we love and we aren't trying to make fun of their religion. But I had to share these because I was completely confused by them! I don't understand what dinosaurs and a giant pumpkin and a cannibal cooking people's heads have to do with Buddhism?! (If you are a Buddhist and you're reading this I would seriously love to know!)

Anyone have any ideas or explanations for the last few pictures?