Wat Chiang Man
 The Main Sala and Chedi of Wat Chiang Man |
Located within the walls of the old city, near the Chang Puak gate, Chiang Man is the oldest temple in Chiang Mai. It was supposedly built by the founder of the city 700 years ago, King Mengrai. It's a small temple, and not on the main tourist trail, but it was important for quite some time.
 New wiharns at Wat Chiang Man |
Several small buildings dot the temple compound, and behind the main ubosot (ordination hall) is a chedi. The base of the chedi is lined with elephants crafted out of plaster. All the other buildings are finely decorated in the Northern style, with red lacquer, gold leaf and many-colored mirrors. Of special interest is the roof and stairs of the wiharn (chapel) which houses the sacred Buddha images. The stair banisters are colorful naga dragons typical of the North. The roof gable-ends also forms beautiful nagas using colored glass and mirror tiles.
There are two images housed in the wiharn to the right of the main ubosot. The wiharn itself appears to have been constructed around a sort of traditional Northern-style prang which houses the images. One image is a marble bas-relief Buddha supposed to have come from Sri Lanka 2,000 years ago. The second image is a crystal Buddha from Lopburi, and is thought to be about 1,800 years old.
 Window detail on the main ubosot |
While looking at the images, you might try to figure out the system of pipes, a pump and a basin at the back of the alter. It looks like the glass case for the images can be filled with water, or perhaps they just give them a shower once in a while?
The windows of the main ubosot are also worth a close look. The frames are tiled with colored mirrors while the shutters for the windows sport gold leaf stencil patterns on both sides of the red lacquer panels.
There was a bit of construction going on around the wiharn to the left of the main sala, so there may be some changes since these pictures were taken in October of 2002.
Getting There
Wat Chiang Man is on Ratchaphakhinai Road near where it intersects Sri Phum Road, which runs just inside the moat along the north wall of the old city. The closest "landmark" to Wat Chiang Man is the Thai Airways office on Phrapokklao Road. Walk down the small street next to the office and turn left at the next main street. The temple will be on your left.