Thailand: Standing Buddha in the grounds of Wat Phan Tao, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand

Wat Phan Tao, established in 1391, forms a kind of adjunct to the much larger Wat Chedi Luang lying next door and immediately to the south. Wat Phan Tao means ‘Temple of a Thousand Furnaces’ or ‘Temple of a Thousand Kilns’ and it is believed that the grounds were once the site of a foundry, casting bronze images of the Buddha for nearby Wat Chedi Luang.

The wooden viharn is one of the few surviving all-wood temple buildings in Chiang Mai. In times past it was a secular structure of no religious significance, the ho kham or ‘gilded hall’ of Chao Mahawong, the 5th of the Chao Chet Ton monarchs, who ruled Chiang Mai and the north from 1846 to 1854.

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

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia