Thailand - Lamphun
Photo Gallery of Lamphun in Thailand.Lamphun is a small, quiet town. In ancient times, it was called "Haripunchai", the oldest and most prosperous city in the north, and was the capital of the Mon kingdom.
It is situated on the banks of the river Kwang (a branch of the Ping river of Chiang Mai) and is just 30 kilometers from Thailand's northern capital of Chiang Mai, about half an hour by car. (If you go there by car from Chiang Mai, you'll see trees blessed with Buddhist orange swathes, planted by the Prince of Chiang Mai in 1899, lined along the street.)
About the history of Lamphun, Buddhist monks invited Queen Chamadevi(Chama Thewi), a princess of Lopburi, central Thailand, to become the first ruler of Haripunchai around 661 A.D. Her dynasty survived until the 11th century and Haripunchai prospered as a centre for learning and trade.
(The picture right above: A park in the city. It looks a statue of the Queen Chamadevi(Chama Thewi).)
In 1281, King Mengrai of Lannathai seized the city and made it a part of his kingdom. Mengrai used the city as his capital until the foundation of Chiang Mai in 1296. Lamphun was incorporated into the Thai Kingdom in 19th century.
[Lamphun] Scenery of the city |
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Lamphun was known as "Haripunchai" and a
centre for learning and trade. However, time passes leisurely in modern
days.If you visit Chiang Mai, drop by here also to see the . It's only about 30 minutes from Chiang Mai to see the ancient capital of the Mon kingdom. The old city is surrounded by walls, 1000m north and south and 550m, and east and west, and has a moat like Chiang Mai. I'm wondering if cities in the north basically have a moat. |
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| Moat ? (There is a moat(?) like this in the city.) |
Gate (There are gates with the name of "Haripunchai" in the city.) |
City wall (Shot from a car. It looks like a city wall.) |
Lined Trees (Trees blessed with Buddhist orange swathes between Chiang Mai and Lamphun.) |
[Lamphun] Wat Phra That Haripunchai |
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Wat Phra That Haripunchai, the remarkable temple located in mid-town, is a royal temple in Lamphun. It was built in 1108 (or 1157) during the reign of King Arthitayarat,
a descendant of the Queen Chamadevi(Chama Thewi).The Chedi (Buddhist stupa) in the picture left was built after the erection of this temple during the era of Lanna Thai kingdom. I guess you might think the Chedi looks similar to the one in Wat Phra That Doi Suthep of Chiang Mai. This is because Wat Phra That Doi Suthep was modeled after it. There is a large red tower holding a huge gong in the site. They say that the gong is the biggest in the world. They have a celebration on every full moon day of the sixth lunar month. |
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| Entrance (Two red lions are saying welcome.) |
The main hall (The front of the hall right after the entrance.) |
Main hall and chedi (The large chedi stands sky high behind the main hall.) |
The red building and the gong (Well known as the biggest bronze gong inside the building.) |
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| New Year's 1 (A lot of people visit on New Year's day.) |
New Year's 2 (People light candles and pray offering incense sticks.) |
New Year's 3 (Walk around the chedi three times while praying.) |
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| Huge chedi 2 (A lot of people visit.) |
Musical instruments (This was taken the other day. They were playing musical instrument in the opposite side of the main hall.) |
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| Huge chedi 1 (The chedi is 46m tall on the square base with sides of 20 meters. It has nine tiered umbrella made of gold weighing approximately 6.5 kilograms.) |
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Square shaped chedi (There is a square shaped chedi standing quietly beside the huge chedi. There are Buddha images round the base. They say the images are in the Khmer style, but I'm not so sure. :) ) |
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| Buddha image ? (There are Buddha images around the chedi. This is one of them.) |
Museum in the site (They have a museum in the temple but I didn't get in.) |
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[Lamphun] Wat Pra Singh (Wat Lee Chiang) |
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Wat Pra Singh, also called Wat Lee Chiang, was built during King Mengrai dynasty, and
a very important temple in Chiang Mai, the capital city of the Lanna Thai
Kingdom, for seven hundred years.It's said that while King Saen Muang Ma was ruling Lanna Thai Kingdom, a famous Buddha image was taken from Kamphaeng Phet for a Chiang Mai King, however, it was dropped right here and in the end, it was housed in this temple. Because of this story, this temple, "Wat Lee Chiang" got to be called "Wat Lee Chiang Pra", then later, called "Wat Pra Singh". This temple has another famous Buddha image called "Pra Thongtip" in a Chiang Saen style and became the first class royal temple in 1940. |
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| Around the mail hall (It was during New Year's and a lot of people visit this temple, the same as Wat Phra That Haripunchai above.) |
A Buddha image (In front of the main hall. Is this the famous Buddha image ?) |
Precincts of the main hall (The path is wide and you can relax and walk.) |
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| Inside the hall (A Buddha image is enshrined in a big house.) |
Offeing of bank notes (A lof of sets of 4 or 5 Bank notes of 20 Thai Bath are hung as offerings.) |
Offerings and wishes (Looks like they are offerings with white flag shaped paper on which wishes written.) |
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| With a monk (People who have a monk give Buddism teaching to themselves or pray for themselves.) |
Buddha images (Buddha images in the main hall.) |
Outside the temple (Some poeple sell flowers and sticks of incense outside for those who visit the temple.) |
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