Chiang Mai - Wat Chet Yot

Of all Chiang Mai's temples, Wat Doi Suthep (or Wat Phra That Doi Suthep,) is perhaps the most magnificent. On the way to see it, leaving the city by Huai Kaeo Road in the north-west corner, Wat Chet Yot and several other places of interest such as Chiang Mai zoo can also be visited.

Wat Chet Yot, sometimes called Mahabodharama or Photharama Wiharn, is located north-west of the city close to the Super Highway. Founded by King Tiloka in 1454 it was, for a hundred years or so, the most splendid temple precinct in the whole of Lan Na. Afterwards, having been ravaged by the Burmese, it was abandoned to the jungle, its fortunes reviving only in the 1950s when it was considered worth restoring. Tiloka's successors altered and enlarged it several times, leaving it lacking in any clearly discernible style. Completed in 1455 the chedi with the seven spires from which the temple takes its name was modeled (though not entirely faithfully) on the Mahabodhi Temple in Buddh Gaya, the small Indian town where Buddha attained enlightenment. Many details, e.g. the decoration on the doors, reflect the Indian original. The tall central spire houses a stucco figure of Buddha, and there is a prayer room beneath. Despite centuries of neglect the surprisingly well-preserved stucco work adorning the walls (depicting deities in various poses) is quite exceptional, the detail in particular being finely executed. Tiloka's ashes are interred in a somewhat smaller square brick stupa erected by his grandson in 1486. In 1477 Wat Chet Yot witnessed a gathering of the Buddhist Council which Tiloka summoned to celebrate the bimillennium of Buddhism. This great event was probably the principal reason for building the temple.