Sky Tassel and Garuda

In the picture above is what you can find at any temple in Thailand. When my boyfriend was here in February he saw it at evey temple and asked me what it was. I did some web research for him and found as below.

"Chofah or Sky Tassel is one of the Thai architectural decorative ornament adorns the top at the end of Wat and palaces roof in most of the south east Asia contries, such as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and etc.. It resembles a tall thin bird or hornlike, and is generally believed to represent the mythical creature Garuda, half bird and half man, who carried the god Vishnu across the sky. "

What I found more aside from what I got at wikipedia is that some temples with no sky tassel were assumed they were built in the age of the third king with chinese style.

In the picture is a creature called Garuda. Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.