The Shan Temples of Chiang Mai

By Ko Thet
August 2006

 

Where the colorful history of Thailand’s Lanna kingdom blends with Burma’s past

Burma’s historical association with the ancient Lanna capital Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, lingers on amid the chedis, altars and chapels of its Shan temple ensembles. Chiang Mai has at least half a dozen Shan temples, but two stand out—Wat Kutao and Wat Pa Pao. Both have sizable communities of Burmese monks and attract a steady stream of local worshippers and pilgrims, many of them in national Shan dress.

 

 

Wat Kutao is the oldest, established in 1450 in the reign of a Lanna ruler, Chao Yod. In the 16th century Chiang Mai was conquered by the Burmese, who took over its temples and established their own abbots. Wat Kutao became a royal temple, and in 1607 a chedi was built there to contain the remains of Chiang Mai’s King Mengsuaithao. Historians believe that the name Kutao refers to the watermelon (tao) shape of the funeral urn (ku).

 

Today, the abbot at Wat Kutao is a Thai, but his community of 17 monks are all from Burma—Shan, Karen, Pa-o and Burman. “There used to be more than 20 of us,” said Ashin Mandala, a monk from upper Burma who has spent the past 10 years at Wat Kutao.

 

 

Unlike Wat Kutao, Wat Pa Pao was built as a Shan temple, founded in the late 19th century in the reign of the Chiang Mai ruler Prince Inthawichayanon, whose consort, Mom Bualai, was Shan. The temple’s name refers to the grove (pa) of pao trees in which a group of Shan faithful built, with Inthawichayanon’s blessing, a stupa and wooden wiharn (assembly hall) in Shan style. The entire community of 30 monks, including the abbot, are Shan.

 

Thousands of Shan take part in the annual festivals at both temples, and more than 100 novice monks were admitted at ceremonies in March and April. The two temples also hold classes for Chiang Mai’s Burmese migrant community. Wat Kutao offers language courses in Shan, Thai and English, while 350 students are currently taking English, Thai and computer classes at Wat Pa Pao.

 

 

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