Wat Lok Moli ( th, วัดโลกโมฬี, sometimes also seen written as ''Wat Lok Molee'') is a Buddhist temple (

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

Wat A wat ( km, វត្ត, ; lo, ວັດ, ; th, วัด, ; khb, 「ᩅᨯ᩠ᨰ」(waD+Dha); nod, 「ᩅ᩠ᨯ᩶」（w+Da2)) is a type of Buddhist temple and Hindu temple in Cambodia, Laos, East Shan State, Yunnan, the Southern Provi ...

) in

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

, northern Thailand. The temple is situated on the north side of the north moat surrounding the old part of the city, about 400 meters west of the Chang Phuak city gate. It is not known when the temple was built but it is first mentioned in a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

in 1367 CE. The sixth king of the Mangrai dynasty, King Kuena (1355-1385), invited ten Buddhist monks from

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

to spread their teachings on

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhism. The monks were housed in this temple. In 1527, King Ket (also known as Mueangketklao or Phra Kaew Muang) commissioned the chedi and in 1545, he also had the viharn (assembly hall) built. The ashes of several members of the Mengrai dynasty were placed in this temple. Until the demise of their dynasty, the Mengrai royal family took the responsibility for maintaining the temple. The ashes of Queen

Wisutthithewi Wisutthithewi ( th, พระนางวิสุทธิเทวี) was queen regnant of Lan Na from 1564 to 1578. Names Wisutthithewi's name is variously romanized Visuddhidevi, Wisutthi Thewi, and Wisuthithewi. While the Chiang Mai Chro ...

are interred in a chedi at the temple. The brickwork of the large chedi is left mostly bare; this in contrast to the, often recently, stuccoed chedis of other temples in Chiang Mai. Of note are the finely sculptured

Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

s and wooden temple façade. The temple is aligned along a north–south axis – most Buddhist temples are orientated towards the east, towards the rising sun.

References

* Michael Freeman: ''Lanna - Thailand's Northern Kingdom''. River Books, Bangkok 2001, * 'Wat Lok Moli: Topknot of the World', in: Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, ''Ancient Chiang Mai'' Volume 1. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012. *'Lan Na Rebirth: some recently re-established temples', in: Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, ''Ancient Chiang Mai'' Volume 3. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN: B006IN1RNW * 'Re-established Temples: Wat Lok Moli', in: Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, ''Ancient Chiang Mai'' Volume 4. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN: B006J541LE {{coord, 18, 47, 46.48, N, 98, 58, 57.51, E, type:landmark_region:TH, display=title Lok Moli