Walking through Chiang Mai you run into cafés and temples at every step. But we’ll save cafés for another time 🙂 The city and its surroundings hold more than 300 temples. Gilded domes glittering in the sun are breathtaking. In one stay you can’t see even a quarter of them. In this post I want to share the ones I chose — the ones I think form a solid base for a first visit to Chiang Mai, and that you can expand on later.
I really wanted to visit Chiang Mai during the Makha Bucha festival (a moveable feast — in 2022 it fell on 16 February). The Thai calendar is full of Buddhist holidays; among them Makha Bucha Day is, after Songkran, the most important festival in Thailand. It’s celebrated on the full moon of the third lunar month, observed in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka.
It commemorates the day when 1,250 disciples spontaneously gathered in a bamboo grove to listen to the Buddha’s teachings. Makha Bucha Day is a day of reflection and visits to the local temple, culminating in picturesque evening candlelight ceremonies.
How to get to Chiang Mai?
Chiang Mai is the largest city in northern Thailand, famous for its many temples and coffee plantations and roasteries. It’s also a base for trips to the nearby mountains, where you can visit villages of hill tribes: Akha, Lahu, Hmong, Mien, Karen, and Lisu.
There are several ways to reach Chiang Mai, especially from Bangkok.
Bangkok – Chiang Mai: By plane — the fastest and by far the best option. The flight itself takes about an hour and costs around 1,400 THB (roughly 180 PLN). By bus — fairly cheap and relatively fast. The journey takes about 10 hours and the ticket runs around 700 THB (roughly 90 PLN). By taxi — fast but unfortunately expensive. The ride takes about 8 hours and costs around 8,000 THB (roughly 1,000 PLN). By train — an option for the brave, the cheapest one, but travel time can stretch significantly because trains in Thailand are always late. Travel time is about 12 hours; tickets start at 278 THB (around 36 PLN).
Note:
To enter temples, dress appropriately, covering shoulders and knees.
Entry fees:
Temple entry is free.
1. WAT PHRA SINGH
Wat Phra Singh is the largest temple in Chiang Mai, built in 1345 and located on Sam Lad Road. Its assembly hall, called Viharn Lai Kham, houses the Phra Phuttha Sihin, the most venerated Buddha image of the North, made in the 15th century of gold and copper. During the Songkran festival, the Phra Phuttha Sihin is paraded through the city so locals can bathe the image in fragrant water — a ritual traditionally believed to bring good luck.
Wat Phra Singh is a prime example of Lanna architecture — a soaring, stepped, richly decorated roof and wooden carvings. The columns, decorated with gold and red, lend a sumptuous atmosphere. Red-wood ceilings deepen the sense of shade and gravity.
I especially recommend seeing this temple early in the morning or an hour before sunset, when soft sunlight reflects off the gilded chedi.
Opening hours:
Daily from 9:00 to 18:00
2. WAT CHEDI LUANG
Wat Chedi Luang is most likely the largest structure in old Chiang Mai. Sadly, the tip of its stupa was destroyed — either by an earthquake or by Burmese artillery fire in 1775. At its peak, the chedi was 60 meters in diameter and 80 meters tall. Today it’s half the size.
In the 1990s restoration was undertaken by the Department of Fine Arts, but work on the chedi was never completed. What’s more, the chedi once housed the Emerald Buddha (now in Bangkok, at Wat Phra Kaew). The Emerald Buddha is Thailand’s greatest religious relic. As a fun fact — in 1995, the King of Thailand gifted the temple a jade replica of the figure.
Opening hours:
Daily from 8:00 to 17:00
3. WAT CHIANG MAN
Wat Chiang Man is the oldest temple in Chiang Mai. When King Mengrai decided to found Chiang Mai and make it the capital of the Lanna Kingdom, he built Wat Chiang Man as the new city’s first temple.
The main shrine (wihan) holds the oldest known Lanna representation of the Buddha, created in 1465 — an image of a standing Buddha holding an alms bowl. In the smaller of the two wihans there are two important Buddha images said to have protective powers. The first is a bas-relief depicting a standing Buddha (Phra Sila), likely made in Sri Lanka. Thais believe this image has the power to bring rain, which is why it plays an important role during the Songkran festival held in April, at the end of the dry season. The second is a small image — only 10 cm tall — of the so-called Crystal Buddha (Phra Sae Tang Khamani), carved from transparent quartz. It’s believed the statue protects against disasters. This is because it was brought to Chiang Mai only in 1296 by King Mengrai from the city of Lamphun, which had earlier been completely plundered — and only the Crystal Buddha came through unscathed.
Opening hours:
Daily from 8:00 to 17:00
5. WAT KET KARAM
The Ket Karam community is a more than 200-year-old community bringing together five different religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism). It settles the eastern bank of the Ping River. The Ket Karam temple was, and still is, the center of this community. Even before the arrival of trains, this was the main seaport linking Chiang Mai with Rattanakosin (today’s Bangkok) and the southern provinces. Today it’s an area inhabited by enterprising citizens, foreign missionaries, and Chinese merchants bringing in goods by sea.
The temple itself was built in 1428. Sadly, the great earthquake that also destroyed Chedi Luang turned it into rubble. The wihan was rebuilt in the 19th century and has an incredible Lanna-style roof, recognizable from afar, made of five tiers symbolizing royal status. The chedi, meanwhile, holds a sacred relic of the Buddha called “Phra Tat Ked Kaew Jula Manee.” It’s also an important pilgrimage site for people born in the year of the dog.
The Chinese part of the Wat Ket community funded the building that now houses the Ket Karam museum. Between 1886 and 1957 it was the home of a monk-teacher who was the abbot of the temple. Old photographs from that period show the building without windows, on low piles. In the early 20th century the building was renovated, and in 2000 it was converted into a museum that holds a considerable collection of antiques and photographs telling the story of Chiang Mai.
Near the temple you’ll find an old Chinese community market, where you can buy souvenirs and street food at non-tourist prices.
Opening hours:
Daily from 6:00 to 18:00
Wat Ket Karam Museum:
Opening hours: daily from 10:30 to 16:30 Tickets: free, donations welcome.
6. Wat Sri Suphan
I saved a special one for last — the silver temple. Wat Sri Suphan is one of Chiang Mai’s oldest temples, originally built in the 16th century during the Mangrai dynasty. A fun fact: today’s silver temple is the result of a restoration carried out between 2008 and 2016 by a local metal-working artisan.
Wat Sri Suphan is a modern interpretation of Lanna architecture. The temple is entirely covered in a combination of nickel and aluminium, while important figures are made of silver (except the Buddha itself). The main façade and entrance, reached by a few steps, is covered in a blue image of flowing water. Unfortunately the ubosot hall is open only to men — unfortunately, because it’s itself a wonderful work of art. The roof and walls of the temple are covered in images depicting scenes and key moments from the Buddha’s life, as well as village scenes, religious mythology, and zodiac signs.
Why can’t women enter the ordination hall? The explanation… according to old Lanna tradition, sacred objects and amulets buried 500 years ago beneath the ubosot can cause people of pure spirit, above all women, to fall. So it’s better not to take the risk 😉 Fortunately the other buildings in the complex are accessible to everyone.
At the temple you can talk with a monk (Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday from 17:30 to 19:30) or take part in meditation (Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday from 19:00 to 21:00).
Wat Sri Suphan is 600 meters from the Chiang Mai Gate in the old city, right next to the famous Wualai Walking Street — the Saturday night market.
Opening hours:
Monday–Friday and Sunday from 6:00 to 18:00. Saturday from 6:00 to 23:00.
Have you been to Chiang Mai? We’ll definitely be back, so leave any tips in the comments — I’ll try to add them to the list for the next trip!
Useful terminology:
Wat — a temple complex consisting of several buildings such as: chedi/stupa, viharn, ubosot/bot. Then, depending on financial means and the number of monks, the complex can include: sala, a scripture hall, and monks’ quarters. There’s also often a school on temple grounds.
Chedi/stupa — the most important and most sacred building of the temple complex. It’s the place where relics and remains of the holiest monks are kept. A chedi can take various forms and shapes, though it most often takes a cone shape — in Thailand, a bell.
Ubosot/bot (ordination hall) — the second most important building of the complex. It serves as the monks’ prayer hall and the hall where novices are ordained. The ubosot is rectangular, and its entrance always faces east. Opposite the entrance is a seated Buddha figure, while the walls are usually richly decorated, primarily with scenes from the Buddha’s life. On the outside, the ubosot is surrounded by eight boundary stones (sima/sema) that mark the sacred area.
Viharn (assembly hall) — usually the largest building in the temple complex and the place where laypeople pray and meditate. Buddhist ceremonies involving monks and lay people also take place in the viharn. The viharn often resembles the ubosot, but the two buildings differ in that the viharn is not surrounded by sima/sema stones.
Ho Trai (scripture hall/library) — the library of the temple complex, where Buddhist scriptures are stored.
Sala — an open, rectangular building serving as a resting and sheltering place.
Kuti — monks’ quarters.