Wat Phra Singh
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Wat Phra Singh (full name: Wat Phra Singh Woramahaviharn; th, วัดพระสิงห์วรมหาวิหาร; ;
pronunciation
; nod, ) is a Buddhist temple ( Thai language:
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, northern
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. King
Ananda Mahidol Ananda Mahidol ( th, พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรเมนทรมหาอานันทมหิดล; ; 20 September 1925 – 9 June 1946), posthumous reigning title Phra Athamaramathibodin ( th, พระอั ...
(Rama VIII), bestowed upon it the status of Royal temple of the first grade in 1935.


Location

Wat Phra Singh is located in the western part of the old city centre of Chiang Mai, which is contained within the
city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
s and moat. The main entrance is guarded by '' Singhs'' (lions). Wat Pra Singh is situated at the end of the main street (Rachadamnoen road) of Chiang Mai. The road runs east from the temple, via Tapae Gate, to the
Ping River The Ping River ( th, แม่น้ำปิง, , ), along with the Nan River, is one of the two main tributaries of the Chao Phraya River. It originates at Doi Thuai in the Daen Lao Range, in Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province. After p ...
.


Name

Phra Singh is an abbreviated form of Phra-Put-Tha-Shi-Hing and does not refer to the word Singh ("lion").


Notability

The temple houses an important Buddha statue: the ''Phra Buddha Sihing'' which gives the temple its name. The origins of this statue are unknown but, according to legend, it was based on the ''lion of
Shakya Shakya ( Pāḷi: ; sa, शाक्य, translit=Śākya) was an ancient eastern sub-Himalayan ethnicity and clan of north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent, whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The Shakyas were organised ...
'', a statue since lost which used to be housed in the
Mahabodhi Temple The Mahabodhi Temple (literally: "Great Awakening Temple") or the Mahābodhi Mahāvihāra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient, but rebuilt and restored Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India, marking the location where the Buddha i ...
of Bodh Gaya (India). The Phra Buddha Sihing statue is supposed to have been brought, via Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka), to Ligor (present day
Nakhon Si Thammarat Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat pro ...
) and, from there, via Ayutthaya, to Chiang Mai. There are two more Buddha statues in Thailand which are claimed to be ''the'' Phra Buddha Sihing: one is housed in
Wat Phra Mahathat Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan ( th, วัดพระมหาธาตุวรมหาวิหาร) is the main Buddhist temple (wat) of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province in southern Thailand. The main stupa of the temple, Phra Borommathat C ...
in the city of Nakhon Si Thammarat and another one the
Bangkok National Museum The Bangkok National Museum ( th, พิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งชาติ พระนคร, ) is the main branch museum of the National Museums in Thailand and also one of the largest museums in Southeast Asia. It feat ...
. Rajanubhab, D., 2001, ''Our Wars With the Burmese'', Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., It is alleged that the head of the statue had been stolen in 1922. The possibility remains that the present statue (or maybe only the head) is a copy. Every year, during the Songkran festival, the statue is taken from '' wihan Lai Kham'' and carried through the streets of Chiang Mai in a religious
procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
during which the spectators honour the statue by sprinkling water over it.


History

Construction on Wat Phra Singh began in 1345 when King Phayu, the fifth king of the Mangrai dynasty, had a chedi built to house the ashes of his father King Kham Fu. A wihan and several other buildings were added a few years later and the resulting complex was named Wat Lichiang Phra. When, in 1367, the statue of Phra Buddha Singh was brought to the temple, the temple complex received its present name. During restoration works in 1925, three funerary
urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
s were discovered inside a small chedi. It was assumed that these contained royal ashes. The urns have since been lost. From 1578 to 1774 the Burmese ruled Lanna and in this period the temple was abandoned and came under serious disrepair. It was only when King
Kawila Kawila ( th, กาวิละ, , nod, , 31 October 17421816), also known as Phra Boromrachathibodi ( th, พระบรมราชาธิบดี), was the Northern Thai ruler of Chiangmai Kingdom and the founder of Chetton Dynasty. Orig ...
assumed the throne as King of Chiang Mai in 1782, that the temple was restored. King Kawila had the
ubosot The ordination hall is a Buddhist building specifically consecrated and designated for the performance of the Buddhist ordination ritual ('' upasampada'') and other ritual ceremonies, such as the recitation of the Patimokkha. The ordination hall ...
built and the chedi enlarged. Later successors restored the Wihan Lai Kham and the elegant
Ho Trai A ho trai ( th, หอไตร) is the library of a Thai Buddhist temple. A ho trai can come in different shapes and sizes. For many centuries, the sacred Tipiṭaka scriptures had been written on palm leaves. To preserve the scriptures aga ...
(temple library). The whole temple complex underwent extensive renovations under the famous monk ''Khru Ba Srivichai'' during the 1920s. Many of the buildings were again restored in 2002.


Sights

* Wihan Luang – the original wihan was replaced by the present building in 1925. * Wihan Lai Kham – this wihan is the main attraction of the complex. It was built in 1345 to house the Phra Buddha Singh statue and it is a prime example of classical Lanna architecture. The murals of the wihan are also highly remarkable. The murals on the left show the history of ''Songthong'' and on the right the history of ''Suwanna Hongse''. *
Ubosot The ordination hall is a Buddhist building specifically consecrated and designated for the performance of the Buddhist ordination ritual ('' upasampada'') and other ritual ceremonies, such as the recitation of the Patimokkha. The ordination hall ...
– built in 1806, it contains two entrances: a south entrance for monks and a north entrance for nuns. It is as such a ''song
sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...
'' ubosot ('song' meaning 'two' in Thai). The building houses a
mondop The ''mondop'' ( th, มณฑป, from Pali/Sanskrit ) is a building form in traditional Thai religious architecture featuring a square or cruciform building with a usually pointed roof. In the narrow sense, it refers to an enclosed square buildin ...
with the ''Phrachaotongtip Buddha'' statue, a smaller version of the ''Phra Buddha Sihing'' and it is therefore also known as ''Phrasingha noi'' ('noi' meaning 'small' in Thai). The northern end of the wihan, near the entrance for the nuns, contains a copy of the ''
Emerald Buddha The Emerald Buddha ( th, พระแก้วมรกต , or ) is an image of the meditating Gautama Buddha seated in a meditative posture, made of a semi-precious green stone (jasper rather than emerald or jade), clothed in gold. and about ...
''. * Ho Trai – the temple library is another prime example of classical Lanna architecture and it is one of the most beautiful temple libraries in Thailand. The guards, flanking the stairs, consist of lions emerging from the mouths of a ''
Makara ''Makara'' ( sa, मकर, translit=Makara) is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn. Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga, Narmada, a ...
'', a mythical water creature. This combination is rarely seen elsewhere. * The Phrathatluang – each side of the square base of the main chedi of the complex features the front half of an elephant emerging from it. After it was built in 1345, the chedi was enlarged several times. * The Kulai chedi – this small square based chedi, built as a pagoda with five tiered roofs by King Mueangkaeo (1495–1525), is connected to Wihan Lai Kham by a short tunnel which is not opened to visitors. When the chedi was restored under King Dharmalanka (1813–1822), a golden box containing ancient relics was found. After the works were completed, the box and its contents were placed once more inside the chedi.


Wat Phra Singh UK

In 2013, a Wat was established in
Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...
in Cheshire, England with the support of Wat Phra Singh and the President of the Council for Thai Buddhist Monks in the UK. The former Waterloo Hotel was converted into a Buddhist temple by Wat Phra Singh UK. , there are five resident monks.


Gallery

File:Viharnlaikham-mural1.jpg, Murals inside Wihan Lai Kham File:Viharnlaikham-mural2.jpg, Murals inside Wihan Lai Kham File:Viharnlaikham-mural3.jpg, Murals inside Wihan Lai Kham File:De Kulai Chedi, via een korte tunnel verbonden met de Wihan Lai Kham P1040719b.jpg, Kulai Chedi File:De Kulai Chedi, detail van de korte tunnel neer de Wihan Lai Kham P1040720a.jpg, Tunnel between Kulai Chedi and Wihan Lai Kham File:Chmwphrasingh0506b.jpg, Ho Trai (temple library)


See also

*
Thai temple art and architecture Thai temple art and architecture is the art and architecture of Buddhist temples in Thailand. Temples are known as ''wat''s, from the Pāḷi ''vāṭa'', meaning "enclosure". A temple has an enclosing wall that divides it from the secular world. ...
* Phra Phuttha Sihing, for the image now in Bangkok


References

* Michael Freeman, Donald Stadtner, Claude Jacques: ''Lanna – Thailand's Northern Kingdom''. River Books, Bangkok 2001, * Clarence Aasen: ''Architecture of Siam''. Oxford University Press 1998, * Carol Stratton: ''Buddhist Sculpture of Northern Thailand''. Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2004, * 'Wat Phra Singh Woramahaviharn', in: Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, ''Ancient Chiang Mai'' Volume 4. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012. * Oliver Hargreave: ''Exploring Chiang Mai, City, Valley & Mountains''. Within Books, 3rd print, 2002. {{First-Class Royal Monasteries Phra Singh Thai Theravada Buddhist temples and monasteries 14th-century Buddhist temples