Temple Tour

We see sooooo many temples (Wats) here on a daily basis, and Chiang Mai has definitely upped the ante. There are over 300 temples within the Old City walls, and over 1000 in all of Chiang Mai. About 93% of Thailand is Buddhist and they are very devoted. 

Our favourite and the most impressive temple is Wat Chedi Luang. It was built in the 1400’s and hasn’t been in use since the 1980’s, due to stability issues. In 1545 there was an earthquake, which caused most of the top dome to collapse, and it has had multiple re-buildings ever since to try and restore it. This first picture shows a replica in front of how it looked in all it’s glory. There were only a few elephants left around the edges, most had crumbled unfortunately. 

On the same grounds are 2 other temples: Wat Ho Tham and Wat Sukmim. Wat Ho Tham has unbelievable intricate gold details and many Buddha statues inside. 

The other temple was for men only, and this is the sign explaining why. Click on it to enlarge. After reading I was a bit indignant; I didn’t choose this life, it chose me 🤷🏼‍♀️ lol. 

I was able to ask a bunch of questions about Buddhism to a cab driver we had named Kenny, who spent 3 years being a Monk when he was younger. Here’s what I’ve gathered about their religious habits: Most Thai people attend temples on Buddhist holidays, which happen about 5-6 times a year, and 4 of those line up with the lunar cycles. These are bank holidays, where they don’t work and they don’t drink alcohol. These are usually big celebration days. The more devout also stop by a temple to worship any other time or day they so feel. They meditate and focus on their spiritual well-being and improvement. They also have Lent, a period of 3 months where they refocus their devotion to their religion and meditation. Monks and the more devout Buddhist hike up a large hill to a specific temple on a mountain, and they remain there from 6pm to 6am. They don’t eat or sleep, they just meditate and pray. Then in the morning, they hike back down and return home to eat and sleep just to repeat it again. Kenny said the throngs of people walking up and down the hill is incredible and the numbers of people never wane. They do this every day for 3 months!! What dedication. 

Also becoming a Monk is seen as an important rite of passage to becoming a man. Most young men give some of their time working as monks, it’s not mandatory and you can decide how much time you want to give - months or years - it’s up to you. Kenny said his mother begged him to go devote 3 months of his time, he did it to please her initially, and then next thing he knew it was 3 years and the best experience of his life! 

Here are few more beautiful temples we have come across, for your viewing pleasure. I won’t name each of them, but if you’re curious about a specific one, leave a comment and I will try to answer the best I can 😃

We certainly do not understand everything about this beautiful religion yet, but trying to respectfully find out more as we go. I do know I appreciate the individual beauty and peacefulness of these temples - large or small, ornate or plain.