Red Torii in Bangkok?

A friend of mine who is living in Bangkok uploaded an interesting picture on SNS. There was a tall, red and simple structure in her picture and it looked like a torii or a gate to a Japanese shrine. I wondered if there were some shrines in Bangkok. Suddenly, I started feeling very curious about this monument.

According to one theory, the torii originates in an entrance gates to Akah village, a minority group in Thailand. Then, this object may possibly be another origin of Japanese torii.

Soon, the structure turned out to be just a giant swing. It’s about 25 meters high!

It is located in front of a Buddhism and Hindu temple, Wat Suthat.

The swing was used for an annual ceremony to celebrate harvest and to express thanks for Shiva.

In the ceremony, an arch was said to be hung with six ropes from the top of the structure. Four Brahmas got into the arch and they swung it until the ropes became parallel to the ground.

It was a very dangerous swing and due to accidents, the ceremony was banned in 1932.

I think they should have equipped with safety belts.

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