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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).
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