15 December, 2009 Tuesday
Spirit Houses, these miniature constructions placed outside buildings, fascinate me for some reason and we saw plenty of them in Thailand and Cambodia (and they also exist in Laos too apparently).
Spirit Houses are shrines to spirits, intended to provide shelter for them, to keep them appeased and not cause any problems for the people. Offerings are often left at the house for the spirits.
Most houses and businesses have a spirit house placed in an auspicious spot, most often in a corner of the property, often chosen after consultation with a priest. The spirit house is normally in the form of a miniature temple and is mounted on a pillar or on a dais.
The photos above were taken of spirit houses in Chiangmai. This one below was outside a business in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
A house on stilts near the Tonle Sap Lake even has a spirit house on stilts too.
In February 2009, Mark and Linh moved from the UK to the Far East to spend 16 months living in Hong Kong and traveling around East Asia. This website documents their journey.