I set off to find this lesser known shrine situated in the grounds of the Swissotel, 2 Wireless Road. From the Sky Train, Chit Lom, I headed up Wireless Road which is the land of Embassies. If you want to find an Embassy this is the road for you. After passing the very tranquil and lush grounds of the United States of America Embassy I realised I was heading in the wrong direction...
I turned on my heel and eventually found the Swissotel Nai Lert Hotel. It was hot, I was red in the face and very very sweaty but I waltzed in through the main lobby and was greeted by the Concierge. I returned the greeting and kept walking, as bold as brass, into the garden and pool area and started to explore the small paths towards to the back of the pool area. Towards the fence, next to a tree there is was. Phallus Shrine.
Chao Mae, Tuptim, Goddess Tuptim Shrine is it's real name and its obscure origins are linked to the spirit of Nai Lert which lies at the base of large Sai (Ficus) tree. It is said that over the years people began to bring phallic like objects to this tree and it has been concluded that this is the shrine to fertility.
On my visit I found five workmen digging up the area. They digging a rather large hole and putting the smaller stone phallic objects in plastic baskets. They were moving the large, nay huge, wooden ones and seemed to be generally giving the whole shrine a bit of a tidy up. A spring clean if you will.
I am unsure what the shrine usually looks like but the day I was there it was quite messy with a big pile of freshly dug earth in the middle. The workmen didn't seem to mind me climbing over the dirt to get a better view and take some photographs. In fact they helpfully got out of the way until I had finished clicking. I think the pictures speak for themselves.
My comment was aimed simply at the errant apostrophe! :-)
Posted by: Paul | February 28, 2015 at 03:15 PM
I say 'obscure origins' because that's what it said on the plaque, I have now added a photo of the information plague in place near the shrine.
Average? I think size does matter, I will look for an appropriate object for comparison purposes.
Posted by: Lesley | February 28, 2015 at 01:07 PM
We'd need some object for scale to know if that were average!
Oh, and "it's obscure origins"?
Posted by: Paul | February 26, 2015 at 09:18 PM