Description of the attraction
Wat Ngam Muang is the most important temple in the history of Chiang Rai province and all of northern Thailand. The name of the temple in translation from Thai means “beautiful city”.
The most important place on the territory of Wat Ngam Muang is occupied by the chedi (stupa), which contains the ashes of King Mengrai. He was the founder of the city of Chiang Rai and the entire Lanna Kingdom, located in the territory of the present northern provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lamphun and others.
As the story goes, the ashes of King Mengrai, who died in 1317 in Chiang Mai, were soon laid inside the chedi by his son.
Later, a temple was built around it in 1670. During tense relations with neighboring Burma, the most valuable chedi in the province was plundered and, in order to honor the memory of the king, in 1964 a monument to King Mengrai was erected in front of the ruins of an ancient chedi. It has become a place of worship for many people in northern Thailand.
The temple is located on a hill, such places on the hills are considered the most favorable for Buddhist temples. Even the uninitiated will feel a special inspiration and burst of energy, looking at the surroundings from a bird's eye view.
The path to the temple, consisting of 74 steps, is guarded by mythical snakes - nagas. They are the guardians of everything spiritual, but they are never inside temples.
According to legend, in ancient times, nagas could turn into people, which Buddha strictly forbade them. However, one naga snake tried to trick him. The deception was exposed, and since then the doors of the temples have been closed to the nagas. When ordaining a monk to this day, the traditional question is asked: "Are you a human being?" If you believe the legends, a naga reincarnated as a human will not be able to lie and will be revealed.
