Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, Lamphun
Wat Phra That Hariphunchai in Lamphun is a centuries-old temple famous for its golden chedi, drawing visitors keen on Northern Thailand's Buddhist heritage.
Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, Lamphun
Wat Phra That Hariphunchai stands in the centre of Lamphun and is the principal temple of the north. It was founded in 1044 on the site of a royal palace, in what was then the Mon kingdom of Hariphunchai - a state that predates the Thai kingdoms entirely and was absorbed by Lanna only in the thirteenth century.
The gilded chedi at its centre, about fifty metres tall on a stepped square base, is the archetype that later northern chedis copy, and it is one of the eight great relic stupas of Thailand. Around it are a large modern wihan, a Mon-style stepped brick chedi of a quite different and much older form, a library on a high base, and a bronze gong claimed as the largest in the world.
Lamphun is a small, quiet town twenty-odd kilometres south of Chiang Mai, and the temple is its centre in every sense.
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