Where to Pray for a Child: Spiritual Beliefs That Make Parenthood Easier

For those feeling down about infertility having tried on your own, consulted doctors, and still unsure where to turn let’s bring a little faith into the journey and make having a child feel easy! Today, Gother will introduce three sacred sites renowned for granting prayers for children. We guarantee you’ll welcome the baby you’ve been hoping for! Plus, we’ll explain how to offer your prayers and fulfill vows in a way that delights the divine who knows, you might even be celebrating a new arrival by year’s end!

Let’s start with the first place to pray for a child: the “Tiger God Shrine.” Everyone who’s been here agrees that the deity grants offspring as requested. However, you can only make this child-prayer once a year: on the 15th day of the first lunar month, known in Chinese as “Zhua Ngow Mae.” Be sure to check the exact date, as it changes each year. The offering you must never forget is the sugar pagoda. After worshipping, prospective parents should take the sugar lion home for veneration. And if your prayer is fulfilled and you have a child, remember to return to the shrine with twice as many sugar lions as an offering.

📍Address: 468 Tanao Road, Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok (near the Giant Swing)
🕐Opening hours: 6:00 AM - 5:00 PM

One of Thailand’s most renowned temples, so famous that even foreigners fly here to pray for children. The sacred image to whom you should go directly for fertility blessings is “Phra Si Sakyamuni,” better known as Luang Pho To of Wat Suthat, enshrined in the beautiful ubosot. Even those who already have children are welcome to pay their respects. This place is perfect for parents who feel they’ve reached their limit in raising their children and long for relief. Offer a prayer here and you’ll find your life filled with peace, as though you have just been granted a new child.

The required offerings are nine white lotus flowers, nine incense sticks, nine yellow candles, and nine baht. Arrange everything on a tray, light two yellow candles and place them on the left and right sides. Then light nine incense sticks, set your intention, and pray. If you wish for children, ask for as many as you want.

📍Address: 146 Bamrung Mueang Road, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok (near the Giant Swing)
🕐Opening hours: 08:00 - 20:00

Or simply known as Wat Pho, it’s another temple that spiritual seekers shouldn’t miss. If you’re praying for children at Wat Pho, head straight to pay respects to Phra Buddha Lokanat. Legend has it that Chao Chom Waen, the first royal consort of King Phutthayotfa Chulalok the Great in the Chakri dynasty, came here to pray for a child and her wish was granted. She then had the figures of a boy and a girl carved into stone and mounted on the wall, where they remain visible to this day.

Prayer for a child at Wat Pho carries a legend and belief passed down that worshipping on a Buddhist holy day will yield clear results. The offerings include incense sticks, candles, bananas, coconuts, and boiled eggs. After the ceremony, the married couple should take these offerings home to eat, which is believed to bring a child, fulfilled wishes, and an easy delivery as desired.

📍Address: 2 Sanamchai Road, Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang Subdistrict, Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok
🕐Opening hours: 08:00 - 19:30

Another place where you can pay respect and pray for children is the large bronze-cast Buddha image in the Mara Vichai posture, crafted in the Chiang Saen style by Lanna and Sukhothai artisans. It was created during the reign of Phra Mueang Kaew in B.E. 2047 (1504 CE). Originally intended to serve as the principal image in the vihāra of Wat Phra Singh, it could not be hauled into the city after casting because of its weight. As a result, it was enshrined as the principal image in the ubosot of Wat Suan Dok, where it has remained ever since.

In addition to admiring the Lanna-style beauty, there is also a legend that those who pray for children and wish for various blessings often succeed, making it one of the famous temples that spiritual seekers who want to pray for children specifically fly in to visit.

📍Address: 139 Suthep Road, Suthep Subdistrict, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai
🕐Opening hours: 06:00 - 18:00

And once you have the child you wished for, don’t forget to fulfill your vow.   Some may repay their vows as soon as they know they’re pregnant, or wait until just before delivery to visit the sacred site where they made their request.   But ideally, we recommend giving birth, recuperating, and letting your little one grow a bit before taking them to repay the vow, informing the sacred entity, and asking for protection and longevity for your child all at once.  

1.Offer the vowed items and light 36 incense sticks.

2.Bring the child to pay respects and introduce them as the one blessed by the sacred entity.
Wherever you asked for a child’s blessing, take the child there to pay respects every year. If you made requests at multiple sites, visit them all to thank the sacred entities and introduce your child, as if renewing a contract to ensure the child’s long life.  

3.Perform a ceremony to entrust the child’s protection to the sacred entity.

4.Perform the returning-child ceremony to sever ties with past-life parents.
Among Thais, it is often believed that children have short lives because their parents from past lives come to take them back. This can be remedied by performing the returning-child ceremony, which may involve offering the child to a monk or another person—such as a family member or relative—to ward off bad luck.

Make a wish for the child you dream of, and once it’s granted, don’t forget to fulfill your vow.
And if you’re looking for a truly blissful baby-request ritual experience, get the hottest spot updates every spiritual seeker must know.
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