Serving as the spiritual keystone of Bangkok, Lak Meuang is a phallus-shaped wooden pillar erected by Rama I during the foundation of the city in 1782. Part of an animistic tradition, the city pillar embodies the city's guardian spirit (Phra Sayam Thewathirat) and also lends a practical purpose as a marker of a town's crossroads and measuring point for distances between towns.
If you're lucky, lá·kon gâa bon (a commissioned dance) may be in progress, when brilliantly costumed dancers measure out subtle movements as gratitude to the guardian spirit for granting a worshipper's wish.
