Thailand: Silver elephant detail at the front of the viharn at Wat Meun San, Chiang Mai, north Thailand

Silversmiths have long been valued and held in high esteem by Southeast Asian royal courts from Burma to Java, and in times past the Lan Na Kingdom was no exception. For example, according to the Burmese chronicle of Chiang Mai, the Zinme Yazawin, soon after King Mangrai established his ‘New City’ of Chiang Mai in 1296, he sought to establish good neighbourly relations with the Burmese (or possibly Shan) King of Pagan, requesting that the latter send teachers learned in Buddhism, as well as ‘artisans and coppersmiths who can cast gongs and bells’.

King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city') in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom. Chiang Mai sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia