Architecture sights in Chiang Mai
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A
Wat Phan Tao
Near Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Phan Tao contains a beautiful old teak wí·hăhn that was once a royal residence and is today one of the unsung treasures of Chiang Mai. Constructed entirely of moulded teak panels fitted together and supported by 28 gargantuan teak pillars, the wí·hăhn features naga bargeboards inset with coloured mirror mosaic. On display inside are old temple bells, some ceramics, a few old northern-style gilded wooden Buddhas, and antique cabinets stacked with old palm-leaf manuscripts. The front panel of the building displays a mirrored mosaic of a peacock standing over a dog, representing the astrological year of the former royal resident’s birth, makin…
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B
Wat Jet Yot
Dedicated temple-spotters are the prime candidates for Wat Jet Yot. It was built to host the eighth World Buddhist Council in 1477, a momentous occasion for the Lanna capital. To the back of the temple compound are the ruins of the old wí·hăhn, which was supposed to be a replica of the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, but the proportions don’t match up. Some scholars assume that the blueprint for the temple must have come from a small votive tablet depicting the Mahabodhi in distorted perspective.
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C
Matsayit Chiang Mai
A remnant from the days when Chiang Mai was a detour on the Silk Road is the Thai-Muslim community along Soi 1 off Th Chang Khlan, near Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. The 100-year-old Matsayit Chiang Mai, also known as Ban Haw Mosque, was founded by jeen hor (‘galloping Chinese’), the Thai expression for Yunnanese caravan traders. Within the past two centuries, the city’s Muslim community has also grown to include ethnic Yunnanese Muslims escaping unrest in neighbouring Laos and Burma.
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D
Wat Phuak Hong
This neighbourhood wát, located behind Suan Buak Hat (Buak Hat Park), contains the locally revered Chedi Si Pheuak. The chedi is more than 100 years old and features the ‘stacked spheres’ style seen only here and at Wat Ku Tao, and most likely influenced by Thai Lü chedi in China’s Xishuangbanna (also spelled Sipsongpanna) district, Yunnan.
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E
Wat Ku Tao
Wat Ku Tao dates from 1613 and has a unique chedi that looks like a pile of diminishing spheres, a Tai Lü design common in Yunnan, China. The chedi is said to contain the ashes of Tharawadi Min, a son of the Burmese king Bayinnaung, ruler of Lanna from 1578 to 1607.
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F
Wat Phra Singh
Chiang Mai’s most visited temple, Wat Phra Singh owes its fame to the fact that it houses the city’s most revered Buddha image, Phra Singh (Lion Buddha), and it has a fine collection of classic Lanna art and architecture.
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G
Wat Chiang Man
Considered to be the oldest wát in the city, Wat Chiang Man is believed to have been established by the city’s founder, Phaya Mengrai. The wát features typical northern Thai temple architecture.
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H
Devi Mandir Chiang Mai
The most colourful of Chiang Mai's two Hindu temples is the brightly painted mandir (traditional shrine room) and the sikhara (tower) of Devi Mandir Chiang Mai.
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I
Wat Mahawan
At Wat Mahawan no two guardian deity sculptures are alike; the whimsical forms include monkeys and dogs playing with lions, and various mythical creatures.
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