Lamphun Lak Mueang—Lamphun, Thailand. - Buddhist Temples and Public Shrines on Waymarking.com

A Lak Mueang or 'City Pillar Shrine' is a public shrine, usually in the shape of a pillar, which represents the tutelary diety of each province of Thailand. The pillar is housed in a structure, which often reflects the historical background of the province. Each Shrine has great religious, social, and political importance, and are held in high regard by the local inhabitants. Most Thai provinces have an official Shrine, and some districts within a province have their own, smaller shrine.

There are several different styles of lak mueang, however, they are normally located close to the centre of their town, usually in or near the governmental precinct. There is a belief that the height of the pillar was the height of the founder of the city, and its diameter a multiple of his fist size. Some shrines contain historical records of the town, region, or the shrine itself.


Lamphun is one of the many small northern and central provinces of the Kingdom of Thailand. The shrine for Lamphun is found adjacent to the major Buddhist wat of the province, Wat Phra That Haripunchai. However... the pillar is currently absent a shrine enclosure, and is temporarily residing in a small wat. At the current time the pillar is standing in front of a Buddha image, surrounded by several smaller Buddhas, however, most likely, when it is in its new home, it will be alone.

A new building is in the early stages of construction (February 2012), located directly in front of the temporary home of the pillar. Of note, the pillar is rectangular in shape.

Open to visitors?: Yes Photography Permitted Inside?: Yes Statue of the Buddha present?: Yes Related Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Include in your log one or two complete sentences. Logs containing a few words like "visited it" are subject to deletion.

Photos of the shrine are strongly encouraged when permitted otherwise please refrain from taking pictures inside and in any case, generally have respect for the religious nature of the site.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.