Ubosot of Wat Chedi Luang "Big Stupa" / Chiang Mai / Thailand
bWat Chedi Luang/b (Thai: วัดเจดีย์หลวง, lit. temple of the big stupa) is the biggest and most popular Buddhist temple in the historic centre of Chiang Mai, Thailand. The current temple grounds were originally made up of three temples — Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Ho Tham and Wat Sukmin. The construction of the temple started in the 14th century, when King Saen Muang Ma planned to bury the ashes of his father there. After 10 years of building time it was left unfinished, later to be continued after the death of the king by his widow. Probably due to stability problems it took until mid-15th century to be finished during the reign of king Tilokaraj. It was then 82 m high and had a base diameter of 54 m, at that time the largest building of all Lanna. In 1468, the Emerald Buddha was installed in the eastern niche. In 1545, the upper 30 m of the structure collapsed after an earthquake, and shortly thereafter, in 1551, the Emerald Buddha was moved to Luang Prabang. In the early 1990s the chedi was reconstructed, financed by UNESCO and the Japanese government. However the result is somewhat controversial, as some claim the new elements are in Central Thai style, not Lanna style. For the 600th anniversary of the chedi in 1995, a copy of the Emerald Buddha made from black jade was placed in the reconstructed eastern niche. (Source: Wikipedia).
Size: 3014px × 3767px
Location: Chiang Mai, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Photo credit: © Igor Prahin / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: big, brick, buddha, chedi, chiang, collapsed, earthquake, emerald, golden, hall, lanna, luang, mai, prayer, restored, stupa, temple, thailand, ubosot, unesco, wat
