Wat Chang Tæm is somewhat south of Chedi Luang and the photographs in this collection were taken the same day I photographed that Temple. As the Temple is not listed in the guidebook I was using, I didn't have much information to guide me when I went there. There are signboards up but I only photographed them, but I didn't read them at the time.

Little did I know then, that the Temple houses one of the more important statues of the Buddha, the Phra Fon Sæn Ha, and it was fortunate that I did manage to get a photograph of it, as it is not in the Main Viharn, but in a kind of side-chapel.

The image seems to be very old, as it was apparently set up by Queen Chama Devi in Lamphun (around the 10th century). Much later when King Tilokarat attacked that city in the 15th century he reputedly razed it to the ground, and only one building was left standing. Inside there were two Buddha Statues, one of which is the Phra Kæw Khao, now in Wat Chiang Man, and the other was installed in this temple.

Every year when the Inthakhin (City Pillar) Festival is celebrated, this image is moved to Chedi Luang for a week, so that it can be bathed and worshipped, part of the ceremonies thought to bring prosperity and peace to the City for the coming year.

The main Viharn, where most of the photographs were taken, contains five Buddha statues, including a large bronze one as the main image, and is quite modern, but has been made, or renovated, in the traditional style, and includes some charming murals. There is a redented Chedi at the back of the Viharn, which has also been recently renovated.

text adapted from the signboard inside the grounds