BANGKOK, THAILAND, January 7, 2003: Throughout the day, devotees offer flowers and incense to a large gilt statue of Lord Ganesha who sits on its high pedestal under a canopy outside Bangkok’s World Trade Center. If passersby do not have a gift for the deity, they offer a simple sawasdee — the traditional Thai greeting with respectfully folded palms, called namaskaram in India. The respect accorded to Ganesha is a reminder that Southeast Asia has had a thousand years of interaction with India. Yet modern Southeast Asians seldom mention the Hindu kingdoms that once flourished in Java, Sumatra, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia. While more exalted Deities were forgotten, the lovable Lord Ganesha remained a vibrant reminder of the synergy of Indian and Southeast Asian cultures.
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