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Travel Chiang Mai, Pay Respect to Phra Phuttha Sihing, Visit Wat Phra Singh, Where Exactly is Phraya Kham Fu's Ashes? Before visiting Wat Phra Singh, let's first talk about who Phraya Kham Fu is. The Phraya Kham Fu mentioned is the father of Phraya Yu, the builder of Wat Phra Singh, or Wat Li Chiang itself. There is still confusion about where Phraya Kham Fu's ashes are located in Wat Phra Singh (some say the pagoda containing Phraya Kham Fu's ashes was demolished a long time ago), including the artifacts of Wat Phra Singh during the Greater East Asia War.
Traveling in a sookjai style on a holiday, it has to be a bit meaningful, haha.
📸 Wat Phra Singh is a first-class royal monastery, Woramahawihan type, graciously elevated in the reign of King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII). It is a temple built during the reign of Phraya Yu (early Lanna period), a prosperous era of Buddhism, where the people lived in peace and Chiang Mai returned to being the capital of Lanna once again.
At that time, Phraya Yu invited 11 monks from Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, Lamphun Province, to reside there.
📸 Wat Phra Singh was originally called Wat Li Chiang. The area in front of the temple is a large field where the townspeople liked to trade and exchange goods, called Li Chiang Market (Li means market), so the temple in the vicinity of the market was also called Wat Li Chiang.
As for Phra Phuttha Sihing, an important Buddha image of Lanna, it used to be enshrined in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. Currently, there is still a Phra Phuttha Sihing hall in the government center area of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. It is a Buddha image that the people of Nakhon Si Thammarat highly respect.
In fact, besides Nakhon Si Thammarat Province and Chiang Mai Province, there is another Phra Phuttha Sihing enshrined at the Bangkok National Museum as well. Moreover, each image is viewed as being from completely different schools of craftsmanship.
Old legends say that Phra Phuttha Sihing is based on the form that a Naga king transformed himself into as the Buddha, so it is a very beautiful Buddha image, but this is probably just a tale.
Some say it was passed down through many eras, starting from the king of Nakhon Si Thammarat receiving the Buddha image from Lanka, offering it to the king of Sukhothai (Phra Ruang), and later King U Thong invited it to be enshrined in Ayutthaya.
Phraya Yanradit, the ruler of Kamphaeng Phet, received Phra Phuttha Sihing from his mother, who was one of the consorts of King Borommaracha I (Khun Luang Phra Ngua) of Ayutthaya. The beautiful appearance of Phra Singh inspired Chao Maha Phrom to the point of laying siege to Kamphaeng Phet, appointing senior monks as ambassadors to request Phra Phuttha Sihing, which Phraya Yanradit willingly gave.
Before Phra Phuttha Sihing was enshrined at Wat Li Chiang (Wat Phra Singh), Chao Maha Phrom invited the image to be repaired for a broken finger and created a replica in Chiang Rai as well. A consecration ceremony was held at Ko Don Thaen or Ko Luang (the island where Laotians recently found many Buddha images, currently in Ton Pheung District, Bokeo Province, Laos), and then Phra Phuttha Sihing was floated down the Ping River from Chiang Rai, presented to Chao Saen Mueang Ma. Initially, Chao Saen Mueang Ma intended to enshrine the image at Wat Suan Dok, but when it was carried on a palanquin to Wat Li Chiang, the palanquin broke down and could not continue.
At that time, someone informed Chao Saen Mueang Ma that Phra Phuttha Sihing probably wanted to be enshrined at Wat Li Chiang. Chao Saen Mueang Ma understood and ordered that Phra Phuttha Sihing be enshrined at Wat Li Chiang from then on.
Northern archway entrance to Viharn Lai Kham
Phra Mueang Kaeo initiated the construction of the Viharn Lai Kham to enshrine Phra Phuttha Sihing. It is a Thai Lanna style viharn with chofah, bai raka, and a terracotta tile roof.
During the reign of King Narai the Great, Chiang Mai fell under royal authority, so he graciously invited Phra Phuttha Sihing to be enshrined at the main viharn of Wat Phra Si Sanphet until the second fall of Ayutthaya. A group of people from Chiang Mai who followed the Burmese army together invited the image back to Chiang Mai as before.
Mural Paintings of Wat Phra Singh
📸 King Thamma Langka (King Chang Phueak) continued the construction of the Viharn Lai Kham from the previous reign until it was completed. He ordered Lanna and Bangkok artists to paint mural paintings of Sang Thong and Suwan Hong in the Viharn Lai Kham, depicting the way of life and living of the people of Chiang Mai.
The Great Pagoda next to the Viharn Lai Kham
📸 As for the Great Pagoda built by Phraya Yu, it originally probably had 4 Lanna-style prasat-topped pagodas standing around the cardinal directions (currently only 3 remain). The Great Pagoda was restored during the time of Major General Chao Kaeo Nawarat, together with Chao Dara Rasmi and Kru Ba Srivichai. Three layers of urns were found: the outer layer made of brass, weighing (approximately) 254 baht; the middle layer made of silver, 185 baht; the inner layer made of gold, 122 baht, believed to be the urn containing the ashes of Phraya Kham Fu, and several gold plates inscribed with various stories were also found.
Unfortunately, these artifacts were all lost during the Greater East Asia War.
Ho Trai Wat Phra Singh
📸 Don't forget to take pictures of the 2-story Ho Trai of Wat Phra Singh. It is a very beautiful Ho Trai. The lower floor is made of brick and plastered, decorated with low-relief stucco images of 16 angels. If you look closely, around the base there are as many as 75 images of Himmapan forest animals, including Chinese lions, Mom, Singh, mermaids, elephants, deer, Kirin, fish, Hemaraj, Gajasiha, peacocks, Narasingh. The upper floor is made of wood, lacquered and gilded. Above the door is an archway.
The Ho Trai was built during the reign of Phrachao Kawila and underwent a major renovation in 1926. At that time, King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) traveled to the northern provinces. He presided over the renovation together with Major General Chao Kaeo Nawarat, the ruler of Chiang Mai at that time.
Phraya Kham Fu, the father of Phraya Yu, passed away at the Kham River, Chiang Kham District, Phayao Province. As for the question of where Phraya Kham Fu's urn is located, although the urn (believed to be the urn of) Phraya Kham Fu, found during the time of Major General Chao Kaeo Nawarat, has been lost since the time of the Greater East Asia War, it is believed that his ashes are contained in a pagoda on the north side of the main viharn, which is called Ku Atthi Phraya Kham Fu to this day.
