Narathiwat Lak Mueang—Narathiwat, 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.

When I first visited the city of Narathiwat I expected not to find a Lak Mueang. There was no mention of such on 'the internet', google maps, none of the tourist websites, but after a few enquires of locals I found one, who informed me that there was a shrine. However, normally, the shrine is one of the more impressive buildings in the city, certainly crafted with style and grandeur, but this was not the case in Narathiwat. The shrine building here was little more than a tin shed. Also, unusually, the shrine is a few kilometres from the city centre, in the suburbs. Normally, the shrine is in the government precinct, close to or at the city centre. I can only surmise that this is a temporary affair and in the future a more suitable building will be constructed. There is a large open space available.

What I did find, in the small shed, were two pillars, one behind glass, both with a four face Bhrama head. There was also a small prayer area in front of the pillars. Nearby was a Buddhist temple, of an unusual design under construction.

Open to visitors?: Yes Photography Permitted Inside?: Yes Statue of the Buddha present?: No 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.