Chiang Mai~ Wat Chedi Luang

I just came back from a competition in Chiang Mai! it was really a challenging and exciting one ( although we lost in the first round haha). The name of this competition is Chiang Mai University- International Medical Challenge, and the theme of this year is pathophysiology and pharmacology. They will have the competition again next year november and I really wish that I will have the chance to join it again!

Back to topic, during our first day of arrival, we did not have any schedule on the day ( as the competition started on the second day) so we decided to have a visit to the historical centre in Chiang Mai. We had a bike tour together ( and a motor haha) around the city and had lots of fun together. Shall blog about my bike tour then. Now, I would like to share my experience on one of the most beautiful and gorgeous temple in Chiang Mai~ Wat Chedi Luang. 

Wat Chedi Luang is a Buddhist temple, which the constructions started on 14th century when King Saen Muang Ma planned to bury the ashes of his father there. For more history about Chedi Luang plz kindly googled it ya. But one thing I have to emphasise here, this Wat is definitely a point of attraction that we should never miss out in Chiang Mai. 

At the entrance of the Wat. According to my frens ( who was our fake tour guide of the day becoz they joined the guided tour a day ago haha), the tree behind aged more than 600 years old, which mean the tree was actually older than the temple! They had 2 trees aged hundred years, and this is the first one. 

the golden praying hall in Wat Chedi Luang. We called it 金碧辉煌 in chinese. and one special thing about this wat is it actually combined two different style of buildings, the traditional Siam style and the Burmese style. 

Took photo together with the dragon outside the temple with coat. We had to wear politely in the temple visit, means no sleeveless top, shorts, mini skirts etc. But we can get the coat for free outside the temple before we visited the temple. As a respect to the Buddha in temple =)) 

The interior look of the wat. Doesnt it look too amazing and gorgeous? Although Im not a Buddhist ( Im a Catholic) but I still pay my respect here. Just treat it as a culture, than a religion =))

Cute monk statue in the wat. 

Another view inside the temple with the standing Buddha. everyone sincerely pray for their own wishes. 

the external sideview of the temple. 

We then walked to the behind of the temple to visit the grand Wat Chedi Luang, which is the main focus of the visit. I was totally "woah" when I saw the temple. It was just too magnificence! It looks totally different than the other Thailand Wat. 

The front view of the Wat Chedi Luang. I took a lot of photos from different angle and every angle gave a different feel of the look. 

of coz, some funny pose with my bestie Cheng~ 

Some interesting fact about this wat. Onli the front view of the Wat had the staircase to the top while the other 3 view of the Wat did not have any staircase ( just slide surface) at all to reach to the top. Why is it so? according to the guided tour, the front view is for the King to step up to the Wat ( only the King can go up), and the rest of the view is for the GOD to reach to the top. And GOD does not need a staircase to reach the top.  Is it real? Im not sure haha

The elephants on the Wat. Actually they did some reconstruction on the Wat, only one side of the Wat have the beautiful complete elephant. There are 28 elephants around the Wat, but only few of them still preserved well due to some history stories behind the Wat. Wat Chedi Luang had a original height of 98m, it was once the tallest building in Northern Thai. It experienced earthquake and war hundreds years ago, and the upper 30m structure collapsed. It was reconstructed in 1990s. 

another tree in the Wat which aged more than 600 years old. Amazing? yes.

besides that it has an important role to visitors, we can took the best angle with the best look of Wat Chedi Luang from the tree. 

and this is the view from the old tree. Grand, magnificence, beautiful, gorgeous, sacred, best appreciated with our own eyes than camera. 

funny pose with my besties again~ pat and Cheng. 

wonder y this temple looks dimmed, not golden compared with the temple in the front? the guided tour told my frens that this is the Burmese style building than the Lanna style that we see everywhere here. 

The back view of the temple. each view gave us a different 视觉享受

They have the 12 zodiac statues, and mine is the monkey. guess my age? haah

Another beautiful view of Wat Chedi Luang. 

the overall view of the praying hall in the front. 

the antero-lateral view of the temple. 

And here we said Goodbye to the beautiful Wat Chedi Luang, which is one of my favorite spot in Chiang Mai. 

**kindly correct me if there is any wrong information in the post. As Im not so sure about Thai history =))

stay tuned for more of my exciting journey in Chiang Mai!

Entrance is free of charge

Getting ThereWat Chedi Luang is on Prapokklao Road which runs roughly through the north-south center line of the old city, from Changpuak Gate to Chaing Mai Gate. The temple is just a short walk south of the intersection with the main east-west Ratchadamnoen Road.