Chiang Mai has over 300 temples scattered around the city. A true temple town but economically doing much better than its Indian counterparts. The combination sent goosebumps tingling through me because this is where India can be, soon, maybe. Because when I look at the whole culturally rich chaos that is India, I wonder how will progress look for our country? I cannot relate to any of the developed western worlds – they feel sterile and culture-less. But here in Thailand I could relate with their economic prosperity and strong cultural ambiance.

I wrote about temple trailing through Chiang Mai in the recent travel issue of Open Magazine. You can read my detailed blog there.

Here is a quick post on my 3 favourite temples of this bustling city,

Wat Chiang Man, the oldest temple of Chiang Mai

Completed in 1297, a year after the founding of the city.

Loved the temple grounds with picturesque champa trees, immaculate lawns, lotus ponds and amidst them an artistic elephant chedi. The temple hall captivates our attention with its tapering roof and a fully red and gold ornate work across the doors and interiors. Visited here couple of times, enjoyed.

There are pizza places outside it, amazing authentic European pizzas @ 200 Bahts (about 400 INR). Similar quality costs over 80o INR in India.

Wat Phan Tao with its lovely wooden ambiance

I landed up in this temple by random chance. I have quite a penchant for random exploration nowadays. This was another such find.

This one is a fully wooden temple made of Teak wood panels recycled from the old palace hall which is now torn down. Love the wood ambiance inside the Temple hall. It is located right by the bustling Wat Chedi Luang but a lovely, quiet and empty contrast.

There is a small pond with Buddha statue, religious flags and a golden chedi in the temple grounds. A popular place for festive celebrations.

Wat Lok Moli, another wooden temple with a bare brick chedi

I thought it was in half ruins when I first visited it at night.  The gates, the chedi at the back are all bare brick without any stucco covering. In contrast with the bright Gold chedis in other temples, it felt like ruins. But the temple hall had Buddhist locals and monks conducting their rituals. So I figured it was an active temple with associated monks and social community. I have spent some time in this temple, including sitting in for an evening chanting session. It is a nice, laid back place with a biggish temple ground.

There are totally 3 wooden temples in Chiang Mai (from what I read online). Two of them are mentioned above. The third one, Wat Phra Sing, felt a little crowded and touristy to me so I didn’t explore it much.

To know about a few more temples, you can read my Open Mag article.

For a temple trotting digital nomad like myself, Chiang Mai is a delicious concoction though I did face some food difficulties cause I am after all a Jain foodie. 😉

Have you been to Chiang Mai? Which were your fav temples?