Wat Chamathewi
Wat Chamathewi (also Chamadevi or Camadevi ; Thai วัด จาม เทวี , other name: Wat Ku Kut - วัด กู่ กุด , also Wat Kukut) is a Buddhist temple complex ( Wat ) in Lamphun in northern Thailand , which was the capital of historical Mon at the time the temple was built - Kingdom of Hariphunchai (Haribhuñjaya) was.
location
Wat Chamathewi is about one kilometer west of what is now the city center of Lamphun.
Creation legend
According to legend, the Mon queen Cāmadevī (Thai Phra Nang Chamathewi ) from Lavo ( Lop Buri ) ordered an archer to shoot an arrow in the north. She wanted to found a temple where the arrow landed.
Attractions
The mahaphone chedi
One of the last examples of architecture from the Dvaravati period is on the temple grounds : the Mahaphon-Chedi ( Pali Mahābala-cetiya , "Stupa of great power" or "the great army"), also Suwan-Chang-Kot-Chedi (Thai : สุวรรณ จัง โก ฏ เจดีย์ ) called. It is a slender, 21-meter-high, five-tier, pyramid-shaped chedi with a square floor plan. It consists of bricks and laterite stones with decorations of stucco . It is not certain when it was built. According to one legend, it is said to date from the 7th or 8th century, according to another it is a reminder of a victory of the Mon states over the expanding Khmer in the 12th century. According to an inscription in Mon script from the beginning of the 13th century, it is said to have been restored by a king as Mahābala-cetiya in 1150 . However, the structure seen today is likely from a restoration after being damaged by an earthquake in 1218.
The mahaphone chedi served as a template for similar buildings in other places in Lan Na , such as Wat Phrathat Hariphunchai . The seven-step “Satmahal Prasada” in Polonnaruwa ( Sri Lanka ) was probably built by monks of the Mon based on their model.
On each step there are four niches on each side in which there are Buddha statues . The broad forehead of the statues is typical of the Dvaravati period, as other figures in the National Museum of Lamphun attest.
The rattana chedi
To the left of the temple entrance, directly on the modern Wihan , is the smaller Rattana Chedi ("precious stone chedi"), which was also built by the Mon. It is 11.5 meters high and is made of bricks with stucco decorations. It was probably built by King Sabbasiddhi at the beginning of the 13th century.
More buildings
- The Ubosot is located in the southwest of the temple area. It stands in its own small enclosure and has a gable field made of carved wood that is well worth seeing . In terms of proportions, it is built in the Central Thai style, but the gable field is in the La Na style.
- In modern Wihan there are wall paintings depicting scenes from the legendary life of Queen Cāmadevī.
- At the southern entrance to the temple there is a monument to the monk Khru Ba Siwichai (Thai: ครูบา ศรี วิชัย ; * 1878, † 1938), who was highly venerated in northern Thailand and who renovated the temple in the 1920s.
Impressions from the temple area
Rattana Chedi
Mahaphone chedi
Detail of the mahaphone chedi
Buddha, Dvaravati style
swell
- Michael Freeman: Lanna - Thailand's Northern Kingdom . River Books, Bangkok 2001, ISBN 0-500-97602-3 .
Web links
Coordinates: 18 ° 34 ′ 53.2 ″ N , 98 ° 59 ′ 46.2 ″ E