After having visited none of Chiang Mai's famous temples in the past days, I spent this morning visiting eleven of them. If I had taken the entire day, I could easily have doubled the number - just to give you an impression of how many temples there are in Chiang Mai.
My first stop was Wat Kuan Kama, just across the street from my hostel. The temple was nothing special, but their entrance was flanked by two golden horses:
One of the most well-known temples in Chiang Mai is Wat Chiang Man. The interior design is different from other temples because the walls are decorated by full color paintings instead of the usual gold ornaments.
This is one of the paintings in greater detail (as you can see, there are still plenty of ornaments around the paintings):
Behind the main temple building was a golden stupa ringed by stone elephants:
A little on the side, there was another temple building, very peaceful with lots of green surrounding it.
Wat Inthakhin Saduemuang is a tiny temple which appears to be standing almost on the street in the center of Chiang Mai's old town.
Just inside the temple, like in many others, there was a table with an assortment of Buddha statues and bowls before them - unfortunately, I have no idea what their purpose is:
The main hall, while small in comparison, was richly decorated - and presided by a white Buddha statue (usually the statues seem to be golden, like most of the decorations):
On the left-hand side, there was an array of bowls, probably to collect coin offerings:
The next temple, Wat Phantao, had an ancient, wooden feel to it and was decorated with hundreds of yellow flags (yellow being the king's color, whose birthday it had been a few days earlier):
The inside looked rather sleek and was dominated by a golden Buddha:
To the sides of the Buddha statue, there were bowls containing offerings that lay people had given to the monks. The offerings were surprisingly practical: there was orange cloth, which constitutes a monk's robes, but also shampoo and coffee:
Behind the main building, another stupa:
Almost next door was Wat Chedi Luang, another of the most famous temples in Chiang Mai. The decorations on its front were simply stunning:
Inside, a Buddha statue coated with gold leaf greeted visitors. People seemed to be adding gold leaf to the statue, although I didn't see where they got it from.
The front of the temple was populated by numerous Buddha statues who were surrounded by flowers:
This is one of the side buildings, with a decoration that was every bit as rich as the main temple's decoration:
Just across the street, there was the next temple, Wat Chang Taem. This was a little more modest - but mainly in size. The Buddha statues adorning the main hall were still gleaming as golden as usual:
Inside Wat Phabong, I saw this tree of sorts - no doubt people making wishes and combining this with an offering to the monks who then pray for the people's wishes:
Almost back at my hostel, I visited my last temple, Wat Lok Molee. The front wall was beautifully decorated with two stone elephants:
The temple's main building was the one that had been so nicely illuminated last night. The view in daylight was very pretty as well:
On both sides of the path leading up to the entrance were artificial trees with silver and gold leaves. You could buy new leaves at a small shop on the side, write your wishes on the leaf and add it to the trees.
Behind the main building, another stupa. Just compare this one to the two other stupas in this post. Amazing how different they all are, isn't it?
Notice all the stuff that is going on around the stupa: there is a table with small Buddha statues and bowls to the left (similar to the one above), and there are two big strips of orange cloth on which people write things (wishes again, maybe?)
All the temples I've visited in Chiang Mai were very much living things, populated by monks and visited by lay people making offerings, burning incense, and praying. And, of course, a fair share of tourists getting into everybody's way, as usual ;-)
