Wat Chedi Liam (originally Wat Ku Kham; also written as Wat Chedi Liem) is one of the wat

Wat

A wat is a monastery temple in Cambodia, Thailand, or Laos. The word "wat" means "school".- Introduction :...

s in the ancient Thai

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 city of Wiang Kum Kam

Wiang Kum Kam

Wiang Kum Kam is the recently restored settlement along the Ping River, which was built by King Mangrai as his capital before he moved it to Chiang Mai...

, now part of present day Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...

. The original name Wat Ku Kham means 'The temple of the Gold Chedi

Stupa

A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....

' and the later name means 'Temple with Angular Chedi'. Monks still reside here.

History

The temple was built c.1287 and remained in use during the early Lan Na period after the new city of Chiang Mai had been established by King Mangrai the Great.

Renovation

The current buildings are from a renovation in 1908 CE by a Burmese trader. Because of this many of the decorations of the wat are Burmese in style. For example, all but one of the monks Buddha images on the chedi are wearing the yellow Burmese colourings rather than the white Thai colours.

The chedi was also renovated in 1992 CE when a number of other improvements were made to the site. Not all of these improvements were popular, nor where some needed repairs carried out. Despite its great age the wat is used in much the same way as later wats (for example, there is a weekend market there).

Architecture

The Chedi is a five-tiered design common in the early Lanna period and shows clear influence of the Mon

Mon people

The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...

 Haripunchai

Haripunchai

Hariphunchai was a Mon kingdom in the north of present Thailand in the centuries before the Thais moved into the area. Its capital was at Lamphun, which at the time was also called Hariphunchai...

design. Each corner of the chedi is guarded by a large, outward facing lion, and there are Buddha statues showing different mudras on four of the tiers of the Chedi. The main hall decorations are in very good condition both inside and out.