Thailand - Bangkok

Ming Naphat Sae-Jeng - Thailand - 03.07.2012

The temple of the Emerald Buddha

or Wat Phra Kaew , Bangkok

The entrance is guarded by a pair of yakshis (mythical giants – 5 metres high statues)

Yaksha is the name of a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist mythology. The feminine form of the word is yakṣī or Yakshini.

MathuraYakṣa, 1st-2nd century CE

In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist mythology, the yakṣa has a dual personality. On the one hand, a yakṣa may be an inoffensive nature-fairy, associated with woods and mountains; but there is also a darker version of the yakṣa, which is a kind of ghost (bhuta) that haunts the wilderness and waylays and devours travelers, similar to the rakṣasas.