Wat Kukut / Wat Chama Devi

Lamphun's second important temple, about a kilometer out of town, is Wat Kukut, also known as Wat Chama Devi after the princess who first ruled Haripunchai. Her son, King Mahandayok, built the wat in the early 8th c. It is worth visiting if only to see its two chedis which are magnificent examples of Mon architecture. The larger of the two, 21 m (69 ft) high, holds Queen Chama Devi's ashes, and is the more important, even though lightning has robbed it of its spire. This is in fact how it acquired its present name - Ku in Thai means something like "chedi" and Kut stands for "with a broken-off spire". It rises from its mighty terraced plinth in five stories, with little chedis on the corners and three ornate niches at each level and on