I Chinga (易经)

Chinese monk and writer who visited Chaiya in the late 7th century and testified to its religious and cultural sophistication.

icon

An image, symbol or statue of a sacred or religious object or subject, as well as the main votive image in a temple. Often confused with the Greek icon or ikon.

idgah

An open area to accommodate prayers during Muslim festivals, usually placed to the West of a town.

Idsuan (อิศวร)

A Thai name for Shiva and Ishana.

imam

1. Arabic. Worldly and spiritual leader in the Muslim theocratic system. 2. Arabic. Muslim religious leader and head of a mosque, the minister in ritual prayers. 3. Arabic. Term used by the Shiite Muslims to denote the descendants of the prophet, who they consider to be the true rulers of the Muslim community.

incarnation

'Embodiment'. The personification or representation of a superior being, deity or spirit of a god in another form. In Hinduism usually applied to the guises or transformations of Vishnu. See also avatara.

incense stick

Name for both a small wooden stick coated with a tick layer of incense and a solid stick completely made of incense material, without a supporting core. There are many different colours and they are made from a wide variety of materials, both natural and artificial. They are often used at religious ceremonies and spiritual purification rites, in places of worship of different religions. There are several kinds, such as very thick and large incense sticks used at special occasions like funerals, but the most commonly used incense sticks in Thailand are small joss sticks, cored incense for religious practice that consist of a light coloured incense on a usually purple or red wooden stick of about 20-30 cm long. Thai Theravada Buddhists habitually burn three incense sticks at a time, symbolic for the Triratana, the three objects of veneration for Buddhists, i.e. the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, whereas Thai-Chinese Buddhists belonging to the Hinayana sect tend to burn a whole bunch of incense sticks at the same time. It is believed that when offering food, the scent of the incense takes the food up to heaven as long as the joss stick burns. Once the incense is burned up the food is taken away, often for own consumption. Due to the large amount of incense sticks burning simultaneously, especially in Chinese temples and on auspicious days when large crowds of people gather to make merit, the incense sticks are discarded before they are burned up completely and burned in gong de or joss ovens, in order to make place for newly arrived worshippers as well as to avoid suffocation in badly ventilated locations where breathing may become difficult due to high emissions of carbon monoxide and concentration of smoke. If they are not discarded they are sometimes left and piled up on top of each other to form a tower of sticks. Incense sticks are also used for other than religious purposes, e.g. against mosquitoes or to enhance the smell in ones home. Joss stick are usually burned in a special vessel called an incense burner, known in Thai as kratahng toob, or in a censer called takan used when burning incense such as cones for one, whereas incense sticks are called toob. Before burning incense sticks the person offering them will first make a vow called athitahn, in which the hands are brought together above the head, making a wai.

Indra (इन्द्र)

Sanskrit. 'Possessing a drop [of rain]', composed of indu, meaning 'drop' and ra, meaning 'possessing'. Vedic god of the heavens, weather and war, king of the gods and ruler of the Tavatimsa heaven, a place on the summit of the mythical Mt. Meru. He has a green complexion and may carry a thunderbolt, disc, elephant goad, sword, a trihsoon (trident) or an axe. Being the god of heavens and weather, his bow (dhanus) is a rainbow, in Sanskrit called Indradhanus and in Thai known as Inthanu, meaning the bow of Indra. In Buddhist iconography he is frequently depicted as an attendant of Buddha, along with Brahma. His mount is the elephant Erawan or Airavata. In Hindu cosmology he is the lokapala of the East. His status is considered equally important to that of Vishnu and Shiva. In Thailand called Phra Intra.

Indrachit (इन्‍द्रजीत, อินทรชิต)

Sanskrit-Thai. 'Conqueror of Indra'. Son of Ravana (Totsakan) and one of the demons in the Ramakien, who succeeds in deceiving the monkey-general Hanuman by disguising himself as Indra. It is also Indrachit who shot the nagabaat or nagapasa arrow, the arrow that changed into a naga and tied Rama and Lakshmana down. However, when the Garuda, the archenemy of the nagas, accidentally flew by, the naga from fear released Rama and Lakshmana.

Indradhanus (इन्द्रधनुस्)

Sanskrit. 'The bow (dhanus) of Indra', i.e. a 'rainbow'. Indra is the Hindu god of heavens and weather, hence his bow is a rainbow. In Thai Inthanu. See also rung.

Indrani (इन्द्राणी)

Sanskrit. Consort of the Hindu god Indra.

Inthanu (อินทรธนู)

Thai. 'The bow of Indra', i.e. a 'rainbow'. Indra is the Hindu god of heavens and weather, hence his bow is a rainbow. It is derived from the Sanskrit term Indradhanus. See also rung.

iryapatha

Sanskrit. The four positions of the body in which the Buddha can be represented, according to existing iconography, namely walking, standing, seated and reclining.

Isaan (อีสาน)

Thai name for Isana, Ishana, Idsuan and Shiva, the lokapala or guardian of the Northeast. Also Phra Isaan.

Ishana (ईशान)

Sanskrit. Guardian or lokapala of the Northeast. Also a name for Shiva or Rudra. Also Isana, and in Thai Idsuan or Phra Isaan.

Ishvara (ईश्व‍र)

Sanskrit. 'Lord'. A title given to the Hindu god Shiva.

Islam (الإسلام)

Arabic. 'Surrender/submission (to the will of God)'. The Muslim religion based on the belief in one supreme God (Allah in Arabic) and on the teachings of Muhammad, his prophet who lived in the 7th century AD. The emphasis on a monotheistic belief connects its heritage with that of Judaism and Christianity, whose prophets Muslims recognize but believe that the Koran (recitation) is the final revelation to humankind which fulfills and completes all previous prophet's messages. Its five precepts are: profession of faith, prayer, pilgrimage (Hadj), fasting and charity. The first of these five pillars of Islam is called Shahada and states that 'there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of God'. This proclamation is recited whenever Muslims perform their five obligatory daily prayers. The Islamic house of prayer is called mosque or masyid, literally a 'place of prostration'. These all have an arched niche in one of the interior walls, called an mihrab and which indicates the qibla, the direction of Mecca, their most important place of worship situated in western Saudi Arabia and the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad. When not praying in a mosque believers usually use a prayer rug, often with a portrait Mecca. Islam was at first a religious ideology that would unite the Arab world, but later, after allowing also non-Arabs it spread rapidly in the 7th century to become the second largest religion in the world with around 1,179 million believers.