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Wat Phra Singh

Resting Place of Lanna Kings

Wat Phra Singh Temple is a first-class royal monastery in the ancient city of Chiang Mai, Thailand, built in 1345 by the fifth King of Mangrai to house the ashes of his father. The temple is dedicated to the Buddha Phra Singh, a statue from India, and has a Main Hall, Song Sangha Ubosot, and a large golden stupa.

Located on the west side of the ancient city of Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Wat Phra Singh was built in 1345 by The Fifth King of Mangrai to house his father’s ashes and was subsequently designated as a First-Class Royal Monastery of Thailand .

Wat Phra Singh Temple is the most important Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai and has a 46-meter-long main hall built in Lanna Style. Walking inside the main hall, don’t be frightened by the rows of seated monks, because they are just Lifelike Wax Figures.

Wat Phra Singh is named after a Buddha statue from India in history, which passed through Sri Lanka, Ligor, Ayutthaya, and finally arrived in Lanna Kingdom (the old name of Chiang Mai). This Precious Phra Singh Buddha Statue is currently enshrined in the Wihan Lai Kham Buddha Hall at Wat Phra Singh.

Manywhere Trivia:
“Phra Singh” means lion in Thai. Every year, the Buddha is carried around the city and blessed with water during Songkran, the Thai New Year.

Another major attraction of the Wat Phra Singh is the Phrathatluang, the Golden Stupa next to the Wihan Lai Kham Buddha Hall. This stupa has been restored many times, with the base decorated with four busts of elephants, surrounded by three small golden pagodas. It’s one of the most representative pagodas in Thailand.

The Golden Elephant Coming out of the Stupa

There are also monuments such as the peculiar Song Sangha Ubosot, Hall for Two Kind of Sangha (Monks and Nuns), Ho Trai the temple library, and Kulai Chedi (Stupa) in Wat Phra Singh, many of which are the same age as the temple and have a history of over hundreds of years.

Chiang Mai’s famous Sunday night market opens just outside the gates of the Wat Phra Singh Temple, and every Sunday night the entire street is temporarily converted into a pedestrian street, with no motor vehicles allowed.

Sunday Night Market Walking Street

A Window on Lanna Customs

The Chiang Mai Sunday Night Market stretches for one kilometre from Tha Phae Gate to Wat Phra Singha, with stalls and pedestrians filling the road. This once a week opportunity is quite valuable, not only for the tourists but also for the stall owners. You can come to the Chiang Mai Sunday Night Market to have fun and experience a different life.