Wat Phra Sing (Monastery of the Lion Buddha) (built 1345 onward)
Wat Phra Sing was built in the 14th century by King Pha Yu of the Mengrai dynasty to enshrine the remains of his faher, King Kham Fu. It may have been the first monastery to house the Emerald Buddha, a cultural treasure that now resides at the royal palace in Bangkok. Wat Phra Sing currently houses Phra Chao Thong Tip, the most venerated Buddha statue in northern Thailand. Cast in 1477, it is made of an alloy of gold and copper.
Despite the monastery's cultural renown, it almost fell into ruin in the 18th century when Chiang Mai was largely depopulated. It was only during the reign of Chao Kawila in the early 1800s that the monastery began to be repaired, a process that continued during the reign of his successor, Chao Thammalangka, who sponsored the mural paintings now seen in Viharn Lai Kham.
Images 9-12 and 17-23 copyright 2000 Professor Robert D. Fiala of Concordia University, Nebraska, USA. Remaining images copyright 2008 Timothy M. Ciccone (photographed early March, 2008).
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