Wat Chiang Man (วัดเชียงมั่น)

Thai. Name of a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai, located within the old city moat. It was constructed in 1297 AD during the reign of King Mengrai as the first temple of Chiang Mai, itself built on a location formerly known as Noppaburi, i.e. a wiang or fortified town of the Lawa people, which had been used by King Mengrai as a camp during the construction of Chiang Mai as the new capital of the Lan Na Kingdom, moving it from Chiang Rai. The compound features several edifices, including Chedi Chang Lom (fig.), which −though a replacement of the original structure− is the oldest construction within the temple complex. It consists of a square base with a terrace of fifteen life-sized stucco elephants that surround and support the pagoda, of which the upper part is gilded. Besides this there are two wihaan, an ubosot, and a wooden ho trai which is built on stilts in a pond and —like a medieval castle— has a retractable bridge in order to safeguard it from fire, as well as to prevent crawling insects and termites from reaching the scriptures and damaging them (fig.). See MAP. 回