Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Also on display on the 2nd floor is a rare 'black' elephant tusk said to have been presented
to a Nan lord over 300 years ago by the Khün ruler of Chiang Tung (Kyaingtong).
Wat Phra That Chae Haeng
( off Rte 1168; daylight hours)
Two kilometres past the bridge that spans Mae Nam
Nan, heading southeast out of town, this Buddhist temple dating from 1355 is the most
sacred wát in Nan Province. It's set in a square walled enclosure on top of a hill with a
view of Nan and the valley.
A round-trip motorcycle taxi here from the centre of Nan will run about 100B.
The Thai Lü-influenced
bòht
features a triple-tiered roof with carved wooden eaves and
dragon reliefs over the doors. A gilded Lanna-style
chedi
sits on a large square base next
to the
bòht
; visit late in the day and the structure practically glows in the afternoon light.
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
Wat Phra That Chang Kham
( cnr Th Suriyaphong & Th Pha Kong; daylight hours)
This is the second-most important
temple in the city after Wat Phra That Chae Haeng. The founding date is unknown, but the
main
wí·hăhn
(sanctuary), reconstructed in 1458, has a huge seated Buddha image and
faint murals that have been partially recovered.
The
chedi
behind the
wí·hăhn
is thought to date to around the same time as the temple
was founded, and features elephant supports similar to those seen in Sukhothai and Si
Satchanalai.
Next to the
chedi
is a small, undistinguished
bòht
from the same era. Wat Phr That
Chang Kham's current abbot tells an interesting story involving the
bòht
and a Buddha
image that was once kept inside. According to the abbot, in 1955 art historian AB Gris-
wold offered to purchase the 145cm-tall Buddha inside the small
bòht
. The image ap-
peared to be a crude Sukhothai-style walking Buddha moulded of plaster. After agreeing
to pay the abbot 25,000B for the image, Griswold began removing the image - but as he
did it fell and the plaster around the statue broke away to reveal an original Sukhothai
Buddha of pure gold underneath. Needless to say, the abbot made Griswold give it back,
much to the latter's chagrin. Did Griswold suspect what lay beneath the plaster? The ab-
bot refuses to say. The image is now kept behind a glass partition in the
hŏr đrai
(Trip-
itaka library) adjacent to the
wí·hăhn
, the former the largest of its type in Thailand, and
was in the process of being renovated when we were in town.
