Phra Rahoo Intro - Stories & Myths
Phra Rahoo is also known as "Eating Villain Buddha" in Thai ("พระราหู" in English is Phra Rahoo or Rahu). Most of the statues of Phra Rahoo are black, with gorgeous caps on the head, leopard eyes and fangs, and biting the moon or the sun in the mouth. The expression is very ferocious and scary. The statue has only the upper body, and that has a special story.
Legend One
The gods despised Phra Rahoo because he was born wicked and frequently caused mischief, and the moon goddess was among the gods who despised him the most, and she was like the tongue girl among the gods who wrongly accused Phra Rahoo of being a bad deity. Unfortunately, Phra Rahoo's waist was slashed. Tonguewa eventually found out that Phra Rahoo was a good god, but the goddess of the moon was a bad god.
Phra Rahoo was therefore named a righteous god, and he was allowed to wash away his grievances and be assigned to the fairy class. As a result of Phra Rahoo's dislike for people who prefer to gossip about others and act as villains, he was also known in Thailand as the "Buddha Who Eats Villains." Because the moon goddess's accusation which led to Phra Rahoo's waist being slashed away, Phra Rahoo's sculptures would always be biting the moon.
Legend Two
About 10,000 years ago, Phra Rahoo's father was "Ta Qu Shen Lian," the "Yakshas King" who ruled over all beings in hell. When Phra Rahoo was young, he was very playful and naughty. He often played in the Heavenly Palace. One day, the Heavenly Palace held a puja to gather the power of the gods to create a holy water. When the holy water was completed, everyone was celebrating, and Phra Rahoo also joined in the fun to see what everyone was celebrating. Suddenly, the sun and moon gods found out, so they kicked Phra Rahoo out. Phra Rahoo was not convinced and fought with the sun and the moon in the Heaven Palace. During the fight, Phra Rahoo ran around and broke into a secret room by mistake and felt thirsty, so Phra Rahoo drank the holy water which was on the table. The two gods of the sun and the moon discovered that Phra Rahoo had drank the holy water made by the gods, and went to report to the emperor. The emperor beheaded Phra Rahoo in a rage. Fortunately, Phra Rahoo drank the holy water, so only the upper part of his body could still survive and still very good in fighting. One of the Yashas brought Phra Rahoo to the emperor when he saw this, and the emperor named Phra Rahoo the righteous god, hoping that Phra Rahoo would atone for the sins.
Conclusion
These two historical stories are circulated among the Thai people. Thai people believe that Phra Rahoo is a god of knowing the good and evil, and hates the villains very much. So why do many people who wear or pray to Phra Rahoo Deity bracelets or amulets, saying that it is ineffective? The answer could be that they are a villain, and Phra Rahoo will not bless them.
