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Thursday, September 08, 2022

Golden Lioness Shrine @ Thammasat University in Bangkok [Thailand]

Imagine loitering around university grounds and chancing upon a shrine! That's what I happened when I happened to cut through Thammasat University in Bangkok in order to get a pier.

The 'deity' being honored was a golden lioness! It appeared to be a stone plastered with gold paper, a common practice in Thailand, but honestly I didn't even look closely.

I was more captivated by the numerous Chinese lion statues on the sides. Ethnic Chinese would be familiar with them as such statues are often outside a temple / home and it's usually a pair consisting of lion and lioness but much larger and in original stone material. 

Would you know how to differentiate the male from the female? Take a look at the item beneath its front paw. If it is a ball, it's a lion. Lioness would have a cub instead. 

Marbles were apparently a type of offering too? I was scratching my head as I couldn't imagine lions playing with marbles with their paws! A beach ball maybe, but definitely not a marble! 

There's a plaque with a QR code, about this Golden Lioness Shrine, that, sadly, brought me to an invalid page. If not, I would have gained some information about the origins of the shrine. And maybe this rusty cannon that seemed to be a relic! 

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