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 each side. These contain stucco Buddhas, 60 in all, and in various states of preservation, each originally with one hand raised in the gesture of dispelling fear, clearly showing the Khmer influence. Although most of them have their original bodies their heads have had to be renewed or restored in nearly every case.

The smaller chedi has kept the Mon style and also takes the form of a stepped pyramid with Buddhas in niches, accompanied by great demon figures.