When it comes to main cities to explore in Thailand, Chiang Mai stands on the top and while in Chinag Mai, I highly recommend Wat Chedi Lunag which is located in the middle of the town. This blogpost would take you through a Photo Journey of Wat Chedi Lunag in Chinag Mai, along with details like how to reach Wat Chedi Luang from different parts of Chinag Mai city, other things to do or visit around Wat Chedi Luang, Entry ticket and other not to miss details to make your visit more comfortable.
Wat Chedi Luang is located around the area where Weekend market takes place, so if you are there on a Sunday it's a bonus that you can explore this wonderful weekend market along with a visit to What Chedi Luang.
Wat Chedi Luang looks relatively small when you see it from outside but it's a huge campus with old Chedi Luang structure along with plenty of new temples built around it with different sizes & beliefs.
As you enter into the temple, there is a ticket counter from where you need to buy entry tickets for Wat Chedi Luang. Entry ticket fee for Wat Chedi Luang is 40 Bahts per person, which is pretty reasonable.
After getting your ticket, there is a small temple on your left and a bigger one on the right. Because this one was the first temple we were visiting after entering into Thailand, we were super excited to see the bigger one but we showed some patience and decides to follow an order locals were following. So we went to the small one on the left which is under a huge tree and it looks brilliant.
Timings of Wat Chedi Laung in Chiang Mai are from 8am till 5pm, but I have seen it open late in the evenings as well. Probably Temple is open during weekends when Sunday market is set in front of it. And interestingly we could get entry into Wat Chedi Luang during evening as well, on same ticket. One gentleman had told us that temple would be open and it looks very different with lighting all around and ensure that you don't lose the ticket, otherwise you need to buy another one. That was certainly a good tip for anyone who is in Chiang Mai and want to explore Wat Chedi Luang during the day as well as evening.
After visiting City Pillar Shrine, the smaller temple I mentioned above, we noticed that lot of folks were not really going towards the bigger temple but headed to the back side and we followed the same as we have learnt that locals know much better about their land & how to do something best. Most of the times, we don't regret that and that boosts our confidence in keeping doing so very often. That also lead us to many local experiences which might not be touristy but great exposure to the lifestyles of that land, which is hard to gauge when we only roam around the main touristy spots but that's certainly a person choice.
As we went on the back side of bigger temple, we came across the original Chedi Luang there. That's what you see in the photograph above. It used to be symmetrical from all sides and there were stairs on all 4 sides to climb the top of the temple, which can be see even in current shape of the structure. As of today, no one is allowed to climb up those stairs except some folks on certain days as per religious events.
There is a space for visitors to sit in the shade. Sun is usually harsh in Chiang Mai and many other places in Thailand. So proper hydration & breaks are needed. This is good spot to relax in the shade, although we were not tired so we couldn't utilise the space.
Other other side the Wat Chedi Luang, there is another temple. above photograph shows the temple I am mentioning and it's very different when it comes to interiors.
Wat Chedi Luang's massive chedi was built sometime around 1400s. At its peak, the Chedi measured 60 metres across at the square base and 80 metres tall and was once the home of the Emerald Buddha, Thailand's most sacred religious relic.
Wat Chedi Luang was damaged during an earthquake in 1545 and during that event Chedi’s height was reduced to nearly half of its original size. And I would say, it still looks impressive and even more when you think when it was built. In 1992, the Fine Arts Department finished restoration work around the Chedi.
Water serpent staircases on each side of the Chedi and statues of elephants are also added later after earthquake event. Chedi is essentially a Pagoda.
On Wat Chedi Luang's premise are several structures of great cultural significance, including the city pillar, main wiharn housing the principal Buddha image and a giant gum tree guarding the temple’s entrance.
The city pillar of Wat Chedi Luang is erected at the epicentre of the city, to mark the centre of the universe, which in the past was the Lanna Kingdom.
Above photograph shows one part of the temple with Reclining Buddha inside Wat Chedi Luang.
This is relatively newer part of Wat Chedi Luang Temple and above photograph looks very similar to Sheshnag in Hindu mythology.
Wat Chedi Luang is a Buddhist temple in the historic centre of Chiang Mai, Thailand. The current temple grounds were originally made up of three temples — Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Ho Tham and Wat Sukmin.
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There is a very interesting tree inside Wat Chedi Luang in Chinag Mai city of Thailand. This tree has these beautiful flowers all around and the ground color around this tree had turned yellow.
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Above photograph shows hundreds of bowls placed inside Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai. Coins are put into these bowl by folks who visit these temples for faith.
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