Erawan Museumพิพิธภัณฑ์ช้างเอราวัณ

Antiquities and Benjarong ceramics in the Suvarnabhumi Basement

The Suvarnabhumi Basement displays old objects and ceramics collected by the museum’s founder, Lek. Among the smaller pieces are Benjarong ceramics decorated in several colours, offering a different experience from the grand exterior of the building.

The displays are arranged across three realms: the underworld, the human world and heaven. After seeing the enormous elephant sculpture outside, you can go inside and explore the collection in the basement before continuing upstairs to the religious decoration.

A stained-glass ceiling that depicts the four elements

Inside the circular building supported by the elephant is a stained-glass ceiling. Yellow, white, red and blue represent earth, air, fire and water, with zodiac imagery around the edge. After admiring the elephant from outside, step in and look up at the ceiling.

The pillars supporting the elephant’s four legs tell stories from different religions: the Buddhist Jataka tales, Vishnu, Guanyin, and the Christian stories of creation and Jesus. Small decorative pieces around the stairs use pottery fragments made in Amphawa and China. After looking up, take a closer look at the figures and patterns on the pillars and railings.

Inside the elephant, the atmosphere changes

The heavenly realm is an exhibition space built inside the elephant’s body. A Buddha footprint and a Sukhothai-style Buddha image stand at the centre, with other Buddha images along the walls. The ceiling depicts the sun, planets, the Milky Way and asteroids, creating a cosmic scene unlike the stained glass below.

From the old objects in the basement, pass through the level representing the human world and arrive at the heavenly realm with its cosmic imagery. The exhibits and lighting change as you move between levels. Outside, the garden has sculptures of mythical creatures and is a pleasant walk after seeing the interiors.

A garden of creatures from Thai mythology

The surrounding garden features trees from Thai literature and sculptures of mythical creatures, making it worth a walk after the indoor galleries. Garden admission, flowers, incense and lotus flowers are included with the ticket. Audio guides are available in Korean as well.