Sihuhata
Sihuhata (Thai: แมงสี่หูห้าตา, Maeng Sihuhata, lit. 'four ears, five eyes') is a legendary creature in Lanna folklore of northern Thailand. It is usually described as a large animal with four ears and five eyes. In one Lanna manuscript version, it resembles a bear, eats burning charcoal, and produces gold as excrement.[1] The creature is often associated with Chiang Rai, where it appears in local traditions connected with Wat Phra That Doi Khao Kwai. In some traditions, Sihuhata is identified with the Hindu deity Indra, who takes the creature's form to test a person's virtue.[2]
Legend
[edit]Sihuhata's story is preserved in a Lanna palm-leaf manuscript entitled Tham Sihuhata (ธัมม์สี่หูห้าตา), from Wat Chae Chang in San Kamphaeng District, Chiang Mai. The manuscript consists of 61 palm-leaf pages and was written in Lanna script by Phimmasan Bhikkhu in 1914.[1]
The story is set in the kingdom of Phanthumati, ruled by King Phanthumati, who has seven wives. A poor couple living north of the city have one son. His mother dies when he is seven, followed by his father when he is eleven. Before his death, the father tells his son to bury him near their home. He instructs the boy to worship his father's head after it becomes separated from the body and, when he reaches the age of 16, to drag the skull toward the city of Phanthumati. Wherever the skull becomes stuck, he is to set an animal trap.[1]
When the boy reaches the mountain near the city, the skull becomes caught at the entrance of a cave. He sets a trap there and returns the next morning. The trap has caught a large animal resembling a bear, with four ears and five eyes. He brings the animal home and tries to feed it grass and leaves, but it refuses them. One night, while the boy is sitting beside a fire, a burning coal falls from the fire and the creature eats it. The boy then feeds it charcoal. The next morning, the creature's excrement has turned into gold.[1]
The boy continues to feed the creature charcoal and secretly buries the gold. Meanwhile, King Phanthumati has a daughter named Simma. The king announces that whoever can construct a golden water channel from his city to the princess's palace will receive her in marriage. The poor boy hires a group of Chinese merchants to build the channel, which is completed in one night. He subsequently marries Simma and becomes the king's son-in-law.[1]
The king asks how his son-in-law obtained so much gold. After learning about Sihuhata, he orders his officials to collect the gold and asks the young man to bring the creature to him. When the creature is led through the city, the people gather around it and frighten it. It escapes back to the cave. The king follows it into the cave, where falling rocks block the entrance and trap him inside.[1]
The king remains trapped for several days. He eventually summons his seven wives and asks them to come to the cave. He asks each wife to reveal herself to him before he dies. The first six refuse, but the seventh wife agrees. The rock blocking the cave then breaks open after apparently laughing, allowing the king to escape.[1]
The king returns to the city and gives the kingdom to his son-in-law. The new king rules according to Buddhist principles and establishes charitable institutions for the poor. The manuscript associates the episode involving the seventh wife with a traditional explanation for the saying that men love their younger wives more than their first wives. It also says that the cave became known as Tham Yub.[1]
Indra tradition
[edit]
A different version of the story identifies Sihuhata with Indra. One belief is that Sihuhata is Indra disguised as the creature to test a person's virtue. In this tradition, Sihuhata has a body resembling a monkey rather than the bear-like appearance described in the Wat Chae Chang manuscript. According to an account recorded in the Huai Tom research, Indra sees an impoverished orphan and feels compassion for him. He disguises himself as Sihuhata and comes to earth. The creature eventually eats burning embers and produces gold, after which the orphan becomes wealthy.[2]
The Indra identification also occurs in modern accounts associated with Wat Phra That Doi Khao Kwai in Chiang Rai, where Sihuhata is referred to as a form taken by Indra. The Chiang Rai tradition is therefore different in some details from the written manuscript version from Chiang Mai.[3]
Religious interpretation
[edit]The four ears and five eyes have been given Buddhist interpretations in northern Thai tradition. The four ears have been associated with the four Brahmavihāras, while the five eyes have been associated with the Five Precepts.[1]
The Chiang Mai University account suggests that the story may have begun as a local oral tale known as a jia before being incorporated into religious literature. It describes the written tradition as a Jataka story outside the canonical collection.[1]
Cultural representations
[edit]Statues of Sihuhata have been erected at several temples in northern Thailand. Wat Phra That Doi Khao Kwai in Chiang Rai is particularly associated with the legend and has several representations of the creature.[1]
Sihuhata figures are also used as objects of devotion and as amulets. The association with the creature's production of gold has led to beliefs that representations of Sihuhata can bring good fortune and wealth.[1]
The creature was also used as the mascot of the 2018 National Games in Chiang Rai, known as the Chiang Rai Games.[4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "แมงสี่หูห้าตา" (in Thai). Chiang Mai University, Lanna Cultural Promotion Center. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- 1 2 Home Is Where the Past Is (Thesis). Indiana University. 2022. p. 172. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- ↑ ""แมงสี่หูห้าตา" วัดพระธาตุดอยเขาควาย" (in Thai). Chiang Rai Focus. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- ↑ "รู้ไว้ใช่ว่า…ตอน "ตำนานสัตว์ประหลาดแห่งล้านนา"" [Know it or not: The legend of a Lanna monster]. Ministry of Culture of Thailand (in Thai). 26 March 2021.