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LEXICON

 

 

Wat Phrathat Lampang Luang (วัดพระธาตุลำปางหลวง)

Thai. Name of a temple in Lampang with an enclosing wall in Lan Na style. The wihaan, probably built in 1476, has a wooden roof in three layers and is supported by pillars made of teakwood. It is believed to be the oldest wooden building in Thailand. The temple is built on the site of an eight century fortress (wiang) and has several wihaan. Vihaan Luang, the main wihaan, is an open-sided building with a three-tiered roof. It houses five seated Buddha images and has partly faded murals depicting ancient village life and scenes from the jataka. A special facet of this temple is its chedi (fig.) which through a small hole in the wooden fronton above the door of the temple's mondop (fig.) is reflected in reverse (fig.) on the inner wall, and through a crack in the wooden sidewall of its Wihaan Phra Phut is also reflected on a piece of cloth (fig.) by the penetrating light. The phenomena is similar to the principle of the camera obscura (literally ‘dark room’), a simple box with a pinhole through which light is passed, reflecting any image in its path upside down on the opposite wall of the box, a discovery that led to the invention of photography and which explains the etymology of the word camera. The stupa, in which relics of the Buddha are enshrined, is the designated pagoda for people who were born in the Year of the Ox according to the Chinese zodiac, and hence the temple complex features several statues of oxen. Annually in April, the Boon Song Nahm Phrathat Lampang Luang festival is celebrated in which the people pour water over the temple's chedi, using a bucket attached to a golden naga, the protector of the earthly waters (fig.). Adjacent to the ancient temple complex, a new wihaan was built in 2009 (map - fig.). There is also a museum with mainly Buddhist artefacts and antique objects, and opposite of that is another newer edifice with a stunning interior and doors decorated with laai rod nahm, i.e. gilded lacquer. See also MAP, TRAVEL PICTURES (1), (2) and (3), POSTAGE STAMPS (1) and (2), and WATCH VIDEO (1) and (2).