Wat Suan Dok, Chiang Mai (must see)

Wat Suan Dok, also known as Wat Buppharam, is a revered Buddhist temple and a popular spot for photography enthusiasts. This ancient religious site has undergone recent renovations and boasts a collection of significant structures. Among them are several royal tombs, a resplendent golden Chedi, and a remarkable 500-year-old bronze Buddha image, one of the largest in northern Thailand.

King Kue Na of Lanna founded Wat Suan Dok in the year 1370 CE as a place for the monk Sumana Thera. Its original name, Wat Buppharam, or Wat Suan Dok Mai, is derived from King Kue Na's flower garden that once stood here. Legend has it that Maha Sumana Thera, a monk from the Sukhothai Kingdom, had a visionary experience leading him to discover a sacred relic of the Buddha. The vision instructed that this precious relic should find a home in Chiang Mai.

Upon constructing the new temple to enshrine the relic, a remarkable event occurred – the relic duplicated itself. One of the relics was reverently placed inside the shrine of Wat Buppharam Dok Mai, while the other found its sacred resting place on the back of a majestic white elephant. The elephant, trumpeting three times, made its way up Doi Suthep, the mountain to the west of Chiang Mai, where it passed away. On that hallowed spot, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep was erected to house the second relic.

The temple's northwestern quarter holds the Old Lanna Royal Family Burial Site, comprising whitewashed mausoleums that contain the cremation ashes of Chiang Mai's royal family members. In the early 20th century, Princess Dara Rasmi, a consort of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and the daughter of Lanna's King Inthawichayanon, gathered the ashes from various locations around Chiang Mai to be interred at their present resting place within the temple grounds.