Bang Rak Heritage
Sri Maha Mariamman Temple: A Hindu Landmark on Silom
Founded by a Tamil Hindu immigrant in 1879, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple is one of the few places in this part of Bangkok where South Indian Dravidian architecture stands in full color.
At the corner of Silom and Pan Roads, a gopuram tower crowded with carved deities rises above the shophouses — a landmark most visitors call by its local nickname, Wat Khaek, though its formal name is Sri Maha Mariamman Temple. It belongs to Bang Rak's wider layered religious landscape, but it deserves to be understood as its own building, not just a stop on a multi-faith survey.
A temple founded by one man's devotion
The temple was founded in 1879 by Vaithi Padayatchi, a Tamil Hindu immigrant to Bangkok who, by most accounts, was involved in the city's gemstone trade. Its founding places it among the older continuously operating Hindu institutions in the city.
Dravidian architecture in the middle of Bangkok
The temple is built in South Indian Dravidian style, distinguished by its densely sculpted gopuram gate tower and the vivid, layered ornamentation typical of Tamil temple architecture — a visual register that stands apart from the Thai wat and Chinese shrine architecture found elsewhere in Bang Rak.
Mariamman, and the shrines beside her
The temple is principally dedicated to the goddess Mariamman, with subsidiary shrines to Ganesha and to Skanda (also known as Kartikeya or Murugan). Devotees, both Hindu and Buddhist, visit for blessings, and the temple remains an active site of worship rather than a preserved historical exhibit.
- Dress
- Dress modestly — shoulders and knees covered, as at any active house of worship.
- Shoes
- Remove your shoes before entering the temple interior.
- Photography
- Avoid photographing active worship or ritual moments; ask before photographing people.
- Mindset
- Treat it as a functioning temple, not a tourist attraction — worship is happening around you.
Sources and fact review
Every claim below is traceable to a named source. Items marked volatile — opening hours, fares, routes and exhibition schedules — change without notice and are rechecked before publication rather than presented as permanent.
The temple's location at 2 Silom Road, Bang Rak; its dedication to the Hindu goddess Mariamman with subsidiary deities including Ganesh; its South Indian (Chola/Pallava-influenced) architectural style; that it is over 100 years old; and that it is open to public visitors under a dress-code requirement with no food permitted inside
The specific founding year (1879) and founder's name (Vaithi Padayatchi), which the official TAT page does not itself state
Corroborating account of the temple's founding and function as an active Hindu temple