Erawan is an Elephant in the Epic literature. Every Thais is familiar with Erawan as literature elephant ridden by Indra. Erawan was built as sculpture with copper as tall as 17 story building.
The museum blossomed from the mind of Lek Viriyapant, an eccentric Thai businessman who made a fortune in the 20th century importing Mercedes Benz automobiles into Thailand. More than just a big-time car salesman, Lek was a creative visionary who devoted much of his time and money to preserving Thai culture while at the same time expanding its horizons. He passed away in 2000 at the age of 86, four years before his ambitious Erawan Museum was opened to the public after decades of creative collaboration and careful construction.