While at a conference last week in Las Vegas, I was intrigued to find out about a Brahma Shrine located outside of Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino. Laura had mentioned that she had a friend who had heard about this Shrine in the middle of Sin City, and a quick internet search didnt reveal information about why a Shrine would exist right outside a Grecian themed mega casino.
I’m not one to judge about localities, I’ve had many a friend question why a museum of Himalayan Art would be situated in the middle if Chelsea, NY, so I set off to find this secret shrine of Brahma.
What I found was pleasantly surprising (given it’s proximity to a margarita bar and the porte-cochere). A small bronze signs explained: “The Brahma Shrine is renowned throughout the Far East, to people of all faiths as a place of prayer which in turn bestows prosperity and good fortune on those who come to visit and make their hopes and wishes known. The casting ceremony for the four-faced, eight-handed statue of the Brahma were held in Bangkok, Thailand on November 25, 1993, and many religious authorities and international dignitaries participated.”
The shrine was enclosed in a small park with opportunities to show devotion on all four sides. While documenting, I was able to witness many surprised people happen upon the shrine and participate in various types of devotion. The casino had supplied incense sticks and matches in a metal box in front of the shrine, and I observed Buddhist, Hindu, and secular visitors utilize the shrine in different ways. A number of Hindu visitors were surprised by the shrine, but paid homage by leaving money in a donation box. A Buddhist visitor lit incense at all four posts, reciting mantras at each side of the Brahma. Many secular visitors kneeled at the foot of the shrine to just take pictures.
Ultimately, the experience brought me back to thoughts of the Tibetan Shrine Room at the Rubin Museum, located in the Gateway to Himalayan Art Exhibition. While we are an art museum, visitors to the shrine treat the experience differently. I’m always surprised when I find that people have taken their shoes off at the front of the entrance, or when people just happen upon it and linger for hours inside.
While our shrine has a deeper contextual meaning brought out through exhibition, the Brahma Shrine provides many of the same feelings, especially in such a surprising location. Click on the pictures below to see larger views.
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