Wat Chiang Man gets major press in most guide books and draws lots of visitors during their trip to Chiang Mai. While it can not compete with Wat Chedi Luang’s massive brickwork stupa, Wat Chiang Mai is a small jewel of a temple; it’s beautifully landscaped grounds are compact enough to make touring the site a breeze and it’s packed full of eye-catching treasures.

Located within the old walled city on Ratchaphakhinai Road near where it intersects Sri Phum Road by the Chang Puak gate, Wat Chiang Man, dating back to 1296, is the oldest and first temple built in Chiang Mai. It was erected by King Mengrai who used the site as a base during the construction of his new capital city. Though restored and added to several times since then the wat still retains a sense of its origin and blends newer construction seamlessly with the original buildings.

Upon entering the temple’s grounds and passing by the Burmese-style guardian lions at its exterior wall, there is a large wiharn flanked by a smaller ubosot and more modern wiharn with the wat’s gleaming gold-topped stupa rising from behind. The larger, and older wiharn has a beautiful golden facade and contains the oldest dated Buddha image in Chiang Mai; it’s inscribed with the year 1465. The hall’s massive twelve teak columns support an unusually high altar filled with Buddha images set off by the structure’s red walls covered in gold leaf scenes from Buddhist lore.

To the left of the main prayer hall is the ubosot and a small library building with a small pond tucked away behind them. The bot is usually closed to visitors, and though it is a small picturesque temple, other than a stone inscription near its door that includes a history of the town and the monastery it holds little interest to the casual visitor.

Behind the main wiharn, and difficult to miss, is the temple’s pagoda, Chedi Chang Lom, the oldest construction in the wat’s complex. Fifteen life-sized brick and stucco elephants surround the stupa’s base, appearing to be carrying the chedi’s upper levels on their backs. Built in the 15th century and restored in the 19th, the gilded upper part of the chedi dominates the wat’s skyline and shimmers in the afternoon sun.

Wat Chiang Mans claim to fame can be found in its smaller and more modern wiharn located at the right-hand sided of the temple’s grounds. To the back of the altar and protected within a glass barred enclosure are two small revered Buddha images. The Crystal Buddha, Phra Sae Tang Kamani, is one of Thailand’s most treasured artifacts. No one knows how old the Buddha image is, but it was brought to Chiang Mai by King Mengrai in 1296. The tiny figure carved from clear quartz belonged to King Mengrai’ wife, Queen Chamathewi of Lamphun, and is said to have survived the King’s burning of Haripunchai (of which the queen was the ruler) when the King conquered Lamphun. Because it survived the pillaging of that city, the statue is thought to protect against disasters. The Crystal Buddha rests on a gold covered wood base and is covered by a gold canopy, donated by King Inthawichayanon in 1874. More than 6 kg of gold were used in creating the Crystal Buddha’s home.

The Crystal Buddha along with the Marble Buddha, Phra Sila, which depicts a standing Buddha overcoming the elephant Nalagiri in bas-relief, are regarded as the Palladium statues of Chiang Mai. The Phra Sila image originates from Sri Lanka and is estimated to be over 2,000 years old. The statue is believed to have the power to bring rain and is the focus of a festival at the temple during the Songkran festival at the end of the dry season each year in April.