Wat Pah Dara Phirom (วัดป่าดาราภิรมย์)

Thai. ‘Forest Temple of Beloved Dara’. Name of a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai. Set amid the verdant landscapes of Mae Rim (แม่ริม), the temple rests within a richly forested tropical setting. Surrounded by dense greenery, the atmosphere feels both tranquil and immersive. It is a third-class royal monastery, formally established in 1938 and was granted wisung khama sima in 1979. The monastery occupies land formerly associated with the royal residence of Chao Dara Radsami, after whom the temple is named. It constitutes the seventh royal monastery in Chiang Mai and is historically rooted in the Thai Forest Tradition, a Theravada Buddhist lineage of monasticism that focuses on kammataan meditation, initiated by Phra Ajaan Man (fig.), whose ascetic practice in the area attracted lay devotion and subsequent institutional development. The site was further consolidated through the donation of land in 1941 by Chao Ladakham Na Chiang Mai (เจ้าลดาคำ ณ เชียงใหม่), a descendant of the princess. Architecturally, the temple complex reflects a synthesis of Sukhothai and Lan Na artistic traditions. Its principal structures include the ubosot (ordination hall), which enshrines a Sukhothai-style Buddha statue in meditation posture named Phra Sayamphu Lokanat (พระสยัมภูโลกนาถ); a chedi housing a Phraphuttabaht Sih Roi (พระพุทธบาทสี่รอย) a replica Buddha footprint in an adapted Sukhothai style known as Phra Phuttha Karuna Kitikhun Khachon (พระพุทธการุญกิตติคุณขจร); and a mondop in the Chiang Tung (เชียงตุง) Lan Na style, which contains a Chiang Saen-style Buddha image known as Chiang Saen Singh (เชียงแสนสิงห์). Additional structures, include the Wihaan Luang; Ho Phra Kaew (หอพระแก้ว), the Crystal Shrine Hall; Ho Phra Kammataan, the Meditation Hall; and Ko Kittikhun (หอกิตติคุณ) the Commemorative Pavilion. See also dara, radsami, PANORAMA PICTURE, and WATCH VIDEO. 回