Phra Phrom 四面佛
The Four-Faced Buddha of Erawan — Brahma in Thai practice. Four faces for kindness, mercy, sympathy and equanimity, each petitioned separately and in order.
四面佛 · Phra Phrom · the four boons
The Four-Faced Buddha
Each face grants a different boon — career, love, wealth, protection. Walk them clockwise and, at each, make your choice. Your four decisions shape your reading. No two pilgrims leave the same. 心誠則靈。
About 四面佛 · how to pray
Phra Phrom is the Thai form of Brahma — beloved across Singapore and Thailand. The four faces look to the four directions and grant four blessings: career & work (front), love & relationships, wealth, and health & protection. Devotees walk clockwise, offering incense, candles and garlands (jasmine or marigold) to each face in turn.
There is no fixed lunar birthday — you may pray any day (Thursdays especially). When a wish is granted, you return to 還願 (fulfill your vow) — the promise you made when you asked.
An interactive devotional experience for guidance & reflection.
梵文真言 · Sanskrit Mantra
ॐ
Oṃ — the primordial sound of Brahmā, the Creator (梵天)
四面佛梵咒 · Chaturmukha Brahma Gāyatrī
ॐ चतुर्मुखाय विद्महे।
कमण्डलुधराय धीमहि।
तन्नो ब्रह्मा प्रचोदयात्॥
कमण्डलुधराय धीमहि।
तन्नो ब्रह्मा प्रचोदयात्॥
Oṃ Chaturmukhāya Vidmahe · Kamaṇḍaludharāya Dhīmahi · Tanno Brahmā Pracodayāt
"We meditate upon the Four-Faced One who holds the sacred water-vessel — may Brahmā illumine our minds." This is the Gāyatrī addressed to the four-faced Brahmā himself.
慈
मैत्री
Maitrī
loving-kindness
悲
करुणा
Karuṇā
compassion
喜
मुदिता
Muditā
joy at others’ joy
捨
उपेक्षा
Upekṣā
equanimity
In Buddhist understanding the four faces embody the Four Immeasurables (四無量心 · brahmavihāra). Chant softly, once before each face, walking clockwise.
拜四面佛真言 · Devotional Chant
What devotees actually recite at the Erawan Shrine 四面佛 — and at Four-Faced Buddha altars across Singapore & Thailand. Say it before you pray, then once at each face.
Recite first · 開拜真言
Oṃ Po Romasa Habhadisa Rama
嗡 波 羅瑪薩 哈巴 狄沙 拉瑪
Recited at the first face before you begin, to open your prayer.
Homage mantra · 禮敬真言
Oṃ Mahā Surinyai Namaha
Oṃ Brahma Brama Barami Soha
Oṃ Brahma Brama Barami Soha
Chanted to pay homage to Phra Phrom and to seek blessings, good fortune, success and protection from harm.
Pray after 7 pm on a Thursday for the strongest connection. Walk all four faces clockwise and offer each one equally. 心誠則靈。
Four faces, four petitions
四面佛 is Brahma as venerated in Thailand, most famously at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok. Each of the four faces governs a domain and receives its own offering: the front for career and general fortune, then clockwise for marriage and property, wealth and health, and finally protection and luck.
Devotees circle the shrine clockwise, offering at each face in turn — not just the one they want. The Brahmavihāras the faces represent are mettā, karuṇā, muditā and upekkhā.
The chant
The Pali and Thai invocation is given with transliteration and licensed audio. This is a Thai Brahmanical practice rather than a Chinese one, and it is presented in its own tradition rather than assimilated.
Common questions
Which face should I pray to?
All four, clockwise. Petitioning only the one you want is considered poor form.
Buddhist or Hindu?
Brahmanical in origin, absorbed into Thai Buddhist practice. Both answers are defensible.
What about the promised offering?
Traditionally a devotee whose wish is granted returns to fulfil a vow — often wooden elephants or commissioned dance. The vow matters.