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Phra That Doi Suthep “Phra That of Mamae zodiac year (Goat)”




 This time I got a chance to pay respect to Phra That Doi Suthep and take the latest pictures for using in this column about thisPhra That of Mamae zodiac year.Every time I visit Chiang Mai, if I have a chance, I will payrespect to Kru Ba Sriwichai Statue at thefoot of Doi Suthep mount.



In B.E.2558 (2015), the zodiac is the goat, which is called “Ma Mae Year” in Cambodian but called “Med Year”in Lan Na and Lan Chang. According to Lan Na belief about Chu That, the spirits of the newborn will gather at one Phra That that Tua Peng(a zodiac animal) lead them to wait for conception. This belief makes Lan Na people have faith in Phra That and find a chance to pay respect to Phra That at least once in a life time for auspiciousness. Such story is also a trick to get people come to the temple in order to promote the learning of and practicing Dhamma.
 
After paying respect to Kru Ba Sriwichai, I was going to leave for Phra That Doi Suthep then I saw some zodiac animal sculpture on the wall. So, I went to look closer and take photos.

I tried to look for the history of the statue but I couldn’t find it. Although I checked on the internet, there was still nothing. Until I was back to Bangkok, all I found was the story about the Eternal Words.

Finally, I went through the research of Dr.Pensupa Sukkata Jai-in, a guru of Lanna history, but it made me even more amazed about the history of this statue as it was still no record…

   

 Kru Ba Sri Wichai was a practitioner monk from Ban Pang, Lam Phun Province. He renovated many temples and produced many textbooks so a lot of people had faith in him. His reputation was well-known. Until, a problem occurred after the announcementof The Sangha Act B.E.2446 (1903) requiring that a preceptor who officiated at an ordination ceremony must had been appointedby the government. This made Kru Ba Sri Wichai guilty of being an illegal preceptor in 1908 but he was,later on, acquitted. However,in that time, the government’s response was too strong by bringing police officers to arrestKru Ba Sri Wichai
and holding him atWat Chao Kana Kwang Li for 4 nights. Then, he was investigated at Wat PhrathatHariphunchai for 23 more days.
 
Many years after, Kru Ba Sri Wichai was summoned to report in Bangkok (1920). He had an opportunity to have a private meeting with Somdej Phra Maha Samanajao Kromphraya Wachirayanwaroros, who found him not guilty and released him back to his hometown at any temple he preferred. A few years after returning, Kru Ba Sri Wichai asked some people to build a path
uphill to Phrathat Doi Suthep.
 
The path building initiated by Kru Ba Sri Wichai, a saint from Ban Pang, Lam Phun Province, was cooperation with thevillagers to build a road up to Phrathat Doi Suthep. Jao Kaew Nawarat, the President of laymen, started digging for the auspiciousness of beginning at the area in front of the current Chiang Mai zoo.
 
The construction started on 9th November 1934. The news of road building spread out bringing a lot of people in Lanna to help in this project for approximately 3-4 thousand people each day. A rule had to be set that one village could build only 10 Wa  ( 20 meter ) which was reduced to 2-3 Wa ( 4-6 meter ) afterwards. The road of 11 kilometre going up a steep hill took only 5 months to build owingto the grace of this Lanna saint. The opening ceremony of the road was on 30th April 1835.
 
During that time, monks in Chiang Mai Province from 50 temples resigned from the government of Sangha to be under the governmentof Kru Ba Sri Wichai, causing 90 more temples to resign as well. Kru Ba Sri Wichai was, then, brought to Bangkok once again and got involved in Politics. Luang Sri Prakas (Chan Wichayapai), a then member of House of Representatives of Chiang Mai,helped to havehim return to his hometown again.
 
Kru Ba Sri Wichai returned to Ban Pang and became seriously sick. His pupils tried to get him back to Chiang Mai for treatment but he wouldn’t go and declared his Eternal Words that “As long as Ping river does not flow back to Chiang Mai, I would not return to Chiang Mai as well.”

After his death on 22nd March 1983, his relics were taken away and enshrined in many places.
 
According to a folk-tale, this statue could not be established until the Ping river flew back, which occurred when Bhumibhol dam wasopened for the first time in 1964 making Ping river flow back to Lam Phun…
 
Then, we continued our journey to pay respect to Phra That on the curvy road in car. Thinking back to the old times when people had towalk up this path, I felt grateful for Kru Ba Sri Wichai for building this way up to Phra That for us all.
 
   
Next, we arrived the hill foot and walked up the Naga stairs built in 1557 by Phra Maha Yanamongkol Bhodi as same as the surrounding Vihara which were built in 1538 by him. There is a more convenient way to go up by a cable car which costs 30 Baht. It is very comfortable for old people and others who like.
 
   
After a rest, we walked to pay respect to Phrathat which was crowded with many people as always. We finished the religious part and then looked for location to take pictures. Although I have visited many times, this place gives me different feeling each time I’m here.
 

The history of Doi Suthep began in the reign of Phaya Guena, King of Lanna. He heard that in Sukhothai, there was Phra Tera who mastered in Dhammawinai and Tripitaka named Phra Sumana Tera. This monk had studied from Lankawong monks (via Burmese monk at Muaeng Phan). Phaya Guena was interested so he invited this monk and asked for permission from Phra Maha Thammaraja I (Phaya Lithai).

 

Phra Sumana Tera traveled from Sukhothai with Buddha’s relics from Sri Sachanalai. He made a stop at Wat Phra Yuen, Mueang Hariphunchai or currently Lam Phun Province. Here, it was found that the inscription of Wat Phra Yuen used the characters from Sukhothai which was called as Tua Fak Kham by Lanna people. This type of characters became popular to Lan Chang and was the origin of modern Laos characters.

 

After that, Phra Sumana moved to Wat Suan Dok, Chiang Mai, to find a place to establish the Buddha’s relics. The relics were divided into 2 parts. One part was to be enshrined at Wat Suan Dok while the other was to be placed in another auspicious place which was to be searched further. Therefore, Phya Guena had a royal Vihara and Phra Chedi That built to contain the relics. This temple, nowadays, is the establishment of the relics of the royal family members in the North.

 

Soon after, Phya Guena and Phra Sumana Tera found another place to enshrine the Buddha’s relics by arranging an auspicious elephant with relics container on the back to walk from Hua Wiang Gate (Chang Puak Gate) and continue to Pasutewapapata (Doi Oi Chang or Doi Suthep).

 

When reaching the top of Doi Suthep, the auspicious elephant kneeled down. Phya Guena, then, ordered the Buddha’s relics to be contained there and had 5-Wa Chedi built to cover. The auspicious elephant passed away on that day.

 

Later, Phra Muaeng Kes Kaew (or Tao Ai as in the legend) had a strong faith to renovate the Chedi to be 12 cubit wide and 45 cubit long.

 

During that time, people from Chaing Mai and Ang Wa visited each town normally. And the establishment of Buddha’s relics on Phra That Doi Suthep was well known among these two countries.

 

After being satisfied, we walked outside and saw that the number of European tourists dropped while Chinese tourists increased dramatically. Particularly, many of them showed improper manner. (A few days after, there was a news of a Chinese tourist kicked the bell.) However, I must try to let go considering it as a mental training of not to get too excited by anything.

 

As I looked at the viewpoint, I could not see so much because the sky was dark. However, it could give me a different feeling and made me happy like always every time I visit this place. Moreover, after knowing about the history of this temple, I had stronger motivation to keep such a nice place for our children in the future. Don’t forget to visit this place at least once in a lifetime.