##Busy area for tourists, commuters The blast didn't cause immediate, rampant panic, as some bystanders were milling around peacefully and a family apparently unaware of the explosion was enjoying a meal at a nearby McDonald's, freelance journalist Adam Ramsey said. Vyas, the Indian DJ, said he initially didn't know what to think of the explosion -- thinking, as his ears were ringing, that it seemed like a Hollywood movie or maybe a major car wreck. "But then I was like, yeah, this has to be a bomb because of the utter scale of devastation," he said early Tuesday. "I could see it in front of my eyes." With school out and many in the city commuting home at the time of the blast, locals were among those caught up in the mayhem. So, too, were tourists there to visit the shrine, shop in the mall or stay in the many area hotels. "There was traffic, everybody was honking," Vyas recalled. "It (was) utter chaos and mayhem." Along with hotels, there are numerous shopping centers in the area, Google Maps shows, including the Platinum Fashion Mall and Central World, reportedly one of the largest shopping malls in the world. The city's Skytrain rumbles nearly overhead. The area was the target of another bombing in February when two explosive devices detonated near the entrance of a luxury shopping mall, Siam Paragon, 2013's most Instagrammed location in the world. The mall is just over a block away from the shrine. No one was injured in that blast. Though Buddhism is the predominant religion in Thailand, there are many Hindu shrines in Bangkok, and the Erawan Shrine is the best known among them, according to an English-language website providing news and tourism information about the country. Streams of people pay respects at the shrine from early morning until late at night. Thais and foreign visitors make ceremonial offerings, ranging from floral garlands and fruits to teakwood elephants in the hope their wishes will be fulfilled, according to another tourist site. The shrine houses a golden statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of Brahma, the Hindu god of creation. The shrine is so revered that Thanakorn Pakdeepol, a mentally ill man, was beaten to death in 2006 by two bystanders after they witnessed him vandalizing the statue. Thousands of worshipers visit the site each day, praying for everything from good health to sports results. They light incense sticks and wai (bow slightly with palms pressed together) to each of the four faces of the statue. For extra luck, worshipers pay respect and money to the shrine's Thai dancers. CNN's Mariano Castillo, Mark Phillips, Greg Botelho, Don Melvin and Ismail Wolff contributed to this report.