The deity of Sihuhata is a folk deity commonly found in the Northern Lanna regions of Thailand. There are multiple legends about the Sihuhata, but the most common one is as follows:
In this legend, the god Indra looks down on earth and sees a poor farmer who works extremely hard, yet never accumulates any wealth. He also takes good care of his old mother. Indra feels great compassion for this farmer, and descends to earth to see – and test – his virtue.
Disguised as Sihuhata, a monster with four ears and five eyes, Indra destroys the farmer’s entire harvest. Of course, the poor farmer is extremely angry, and he ties Sihuhata to a post. He goes back to his house to feed and care for his old mother, then returns to the monster. Feeling compassion for the creature, he offers it food and builds a fire to keep it warm. He goes off to do something and when he returns, is stunned to find the monster eating red-hot burning charcoal. He’s even more stunned when the monster begins to defecate gold nuggets.
The point of the story is that the farmer becomes wealthy due to his compassion for the creature who took his entire livelihood. And apparently, people make prayers to Sihuhata to increase their own wealth.
The four eyes represent the four Brahmavihārās, such as, Mettā (Loving-Kindess), Karuṇā (Compassion), Muditā (Empathetic Joy), Upekkhā (Equanimity). The five eyes represent the 5 precepts of no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no false speech (lying), and no indulgence in intoxicants.
Comments