WAT PHRA KAEW DON TAO

VIDEO DESCRIPTION

 

 

Wat Phra Kaew Don Tao (วัดพระแก้วดอนเต้า), i.e. the ‘Temple of the Jeweled Buddha on the highland of palm fruits’, is the name of a temple in Lampang that was commissioned by King Anantayot and where between 1436 and 1468 the Emerald Buddha was housed. Legend tells that a senior monk of the temple one day found an emerald stone in a watermelon that he consequently carved into a precious Buddha image. Since a watermelon in northern Thai dialect is called ‘mahk tao’, it became the etymological origin of the temple's name. The temple's architecture is a mixture of styles and influences from Haripunchai, Burma and modern Thailand, with images and art in Mandalay and Lan Na styles, among others.