This temple was built in the 14th century Lanna Thai monarch’s pleasure garden and is a favorite spot for photographers. Several of the white chedis contain ashes of Chaing Mai’s former royal family.

This temple dates from 1345 and is one of the focal points of Songkran festivities each April 13-15 when people bathe the revered Phra Phutthasihing Buddha image. The temple compound includes the lovely Lai Kham chapel with its exquisite woodcarving and northern-style murals and a magnificent scriptural repository with striking bas relief.

This temple is the site of an enormous pagoda, originally 280 feet high, and was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1545. At one time, Wat Chedi Luang housed the revered Emerald Buddha image now enshrined in Bangkok’s Wat Phra Kaew. One of Wat Chedi Luang’s most striking architectural features is a magnificent Naga staircase adorns the chapel’s front porch.

This is the oldest temple in Chiang Mai and goes back all the way to the founding of the city in 1296 when King Mengrai decided to build a new city and make it the new capital of the Lanna Kingdom, he builds the Wat Chiang Man as the first temple of the new city on the site he used to supervise the construction of Chiang Mai.