Chiang Mai Old City's history dates back to 1296, when it was established as the new capital of Kingdom of Lan Na. In fact Chiang Mai means New City in Thai! It has numerous ancient temples, pagodas. It was named a UNESCO heritage site in 2017.
The old city has a shape of a square (1 mile x 1 mile, my measurement of Google map) as shown in the following map, and it used to have a defensive wall all around with a moat outside of the wall. The wall and gates to the old city exist as ruins, with sections of the wall reconstructed.
We were made aware of Chiang Mai a couple of years ago, and finally visited it at the end of March 2024.
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| A 3D map of the Chiang Mai Old City |
We arrived at Chiang Mai late in the afternoon, and checked in at a hotel right outside the Chiang Mai Gate to the old city. Shortly afterwards, under the setting Sun and obvious haze, we started our walking tour of the Chiang Mai Old City, starting from Chiang Mai Gate, and along Prapokkola Road.
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| Ruin of Chiang Mai Gate |
The one thing that attracted our attention was the yellow flowers along this street, which we noticed earlier along the road we drove from airport to the hotel, and then around the hotel. It turned out to be Ratchaphruek, or golden shower, the Thailand's national tree and flower. The flower blooms in hot seasons, and boy how true it was when we were there (100F+)! Later we saw the golden showers around base of the Chedi at Wat Chedi Luang.
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| Golden Shower or Ratchaphruek |
The most noticeable landmarks in Chiang Mai are temples and pagodas. The first one we looked at along this street was Wat Jet Lin. A few steps down the street was Wat Muen Tum. We did not linger there because our main destination at this street was Wat Chedi Luang.
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| Wat Jet Lin under a setting Sun |
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| Wat Muen Tum |
Wat Chedi Luang, or temple of big stupa (大佛塔寺), is one of the most famous wats in Thailand. It was originally built as a king's burial place. The Stupa is closed to tourists, but can be viewed from outside a low fence.
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| elephant sculptures near the base of Chedi |
A couple of decorative sculptures stood out. One was the ubiquitous elephant, the other was the long creature that lines the staircase to the shrine at the top of the Chedi. The long creatures are Nagas, or snake god, they are regarded as the guardians of Buddha.
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| Nagas |
There are a few smaller temples and structures on the ground of Wat Chedi Luang.
One of the temple is City Pillar, or Lak Mueang in Thai. It has one giant tree by its side, which is supposed to assist the city pillar to protect the town. Women are not allowed go into the shrine. In fact there is a sign at the entrance explain the reason.
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| The shrine for City Pillar |
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| inside the city pillar shrine |
A golden statue of a monk stood in front another small temple by the Chedi. We found out later that the statue of this monk was quite ubiquitous. It turned out to be statue of Khruba Siwichai, a famous Thai Buddhist, who built many temples during his time.
We were the only live persons at the temple. The other mortal was Khruba Siwichai (statue) at the entrance.
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| Elephants on all sides of the square base of the big pagoda |
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| a monk statue outside the temple at the entrance |
On the way to the last major temple we visited for the night, wat Chiang Mai Man, we stopped by three kings monument. The monument is relative small.
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| three kings monument |
Wat Chiang Mai Man is another 13th-century temple with a chedi offering ancient Buddha & elephant statues on scenic grounds. It has a similar temple, chedi and Nagas to Wat Chedi Luang, but at a smaller scale.
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| Wat Chiang Mai Man |
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| the chedi |
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| a small temple by the Chedi with white Nagas |
Most of the Buddhas statues at Chang Mai are golden, in the posture of sitting, but there are some in other colors, such as white, green, and quite a few in reclining posture.
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| A reclining Buddha* |
On the way back to hotel, we walked along the east moat of the old city. A large portion of the old city wall on this side and the Tha Fae Gate were apparently reconstructed. They looked nice but I did not feel a sense of anciency or history. Additionally the moat in this section was filled and replaced with a community park, with many stalls selling stuff.
What made it up for the disappointment was the southeast corner of the old city, Katam corner, 13th-century ruins featuring a brick fortification wall ringed by an expansive moat. The only thing modern is the water fountain added to the moat.
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| The moat on east side of the old city |
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| the section of rebuilt east side wall of the old city |
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| southeast corner of the old city - Katam Corner |
March is the start of hot/dry season, and off season for tourism. We unknowingly picked this time to visit Chiang Mai and surrounding area. The upside of off-season was that there were fewer people everywhere, we could enjoy the temples we visited, sometimes all by ourselves.
A nice walking tour of the Chiang Mai Old City.
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| The lights of this gallery were still on |
Notes
0. The square shape city is a hallmark of ancient Chinese pattern for a capital city
1. Wat means Buddhist temples in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos.
2. I found out the names of the Thailand national flowers and the less well known temples afterwards - in fact during research writing this blog
*3. A statue or image of the Buddha in the reclining position is meant to portray him as he was towards the end of his life and on the verge of entering Parinirvana. This is a stage of immense redemption that occurs after death and is only accessible to enlightened beings
4. We did not feel unsafe when walking around the old city in the dark, few people in the streets. For those who were out, they minded their own business.
5. Best time to visit Chiang Mai is from November to February according to internet.
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