TravelNowandWow#7: Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, the White Elephant Temple

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep is the temple you see on postcards of Chiang Mai (Thailand). On travel guide covers, the back of tuk-tuks, or anywhere else where the city of Chiang Mai is advertised.

It is one of the highly revered temples of Northern Thailand!

And although the temple is not situated in the city itself, it is omnipresent. It was built high up the Doi Suthep mountain, and overlooks the city. At night, the temple is lit. One might find comfort in thinking about how monks may be praying for our well-being as we go about our business.

This is the part 5 of a 7-post series: Temples of Chiang Mai. If you missed the first four posts, you can check them out here:

1. Wat Chedi Luang
2. Wat Suan Dok
3. Wat Phra Singh
4. Wat Pha Lat

Now let's continue our journey and visit Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep.

Will You Join Me?

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep

To get to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, you need to arrange your own transport. Rent a motorbike, jump in a red songthaew or book an Uber. It’s a drive of about 9 miles (14 km), with the road only going up.

Nowadays, it’s quite easy to get to the temple. But can you imagine walking 9 miles up the mountain to get to the temple? Why was this temple built so high up the mountain?

Well, if you remember from when we visited Wat Suan Dok, the building of Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep is a story of legend.

Once upon a time there was a monk, named Maha Sumana Thera. In a vision, he saw a Buddha relic and was told that this relic had to be housed in Chiang Mai. Once a temple had been built by the king to house the relic, that same relic miraculously duplicated itself. One of the two relics was – as had been the intention all along – housed in Wat Suan Dok.

And the other relic?

The king placed the other relic on the back of white elephant. This white elephant then climbed up Doi Suthep mountain. After a long climb, the white elephant trumpeted three times and then fell down. Dead…

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep was built on this very spot, and is now the most popular temple in Chiang Mai.

If you weren't aware of that yet, it becomes apparent the moment you arrive at the entrance. Lots of food stalls, songthaews, cars, and people!

This is one of the very few temples that actually charges visitors. It is only 30 Bath though ($1).

Let's go take a look inside!

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At the entrance, we see a big statue of a monk.

As we get closer to the stairs that bring us up to the temple, we first see a monk throwing away some garbage.

And a few temple dogs tanning!

Let's go through the first gate.

As we turn the corner, we see these steep stairs. Over 300 steps!

The stairs are flanked by these massive Naga creatures.

The Naga can be found in many Buddhist temples all across Thailand. According to Buddhist mythology, the Naga is a large snake-like underwater creature. It is a guardian figure, which supposedly keeps bad spirits away.

Let's climb the stairs!

As we enter the temple, we can take off our shoes. The temple has two levels. Keeping your shoes on at the first level is okay. However, if you want to enter the second level, you are required to take off your shoes, as a sign of respect.

Let's first explore the first level, and take a turn to the right.

A painting of the new king:

In the corner, we see a huge bell.

As we turn to the left, many more bells appear!

To the right is a small temple building with a beautifully decorated, gilded door.

And next to that another elephant, with – probably – a king as a rider.

As we continue, we come to one of most spectacular sites of the temple: the viewpoint on the city of Chiang Mai!

This is an amazing spot to see the sun rise over the city!

As we continue, we see this statue honoring one of Chiang Mai's former kings.

Tourists (locals and foreigners) are queuing for their photo op.

We have have come full circle, and have returned to the entrance. Let's take off our shoes and explore the second level!

This is the most sacred part of the temple. As you will soon see, lots of Thai come here to prostrate to statues of the Buddha. Here, you can buy flowers to offer as a sacrifice.

It's busy!

The center of the second level is this gilded pagoda, a popular background for selfies.

The walls are decorated with beautiful murals, depicting important events in the life of the Buddha.

Here we see Siddhartha cut off his long hair, which means he renounces his palace lifestyle. Instead, he will live the life of a monk from now on.

As he became the Buddha, he started teaching to other monks.

As we turn our head to the centre of the second level, we see a lot of Thai paying their respect to the Buddha.

There are literally Buddha statues everywhere!

As we turn the corner, we notice even more Buddha statues. These have wax candles in front of them.

We are lucky that it's such a beautiful day.

Our tour is coming to an end. We pass one last temple building with Thais giving their respect, as a monk is adjusting his seat.

It's time to find our shoes, and walk down the stairs!

Let's see if we can find a taxi to take us back to Chiang Mai, get a coffee, and reflect on our visit of this beautiful temple.

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep really is the pearl of Chiang Mai’s temple crown. If you visit only one temple when you come to Chiang Mai, let it be this one!

Have You Ever Visited a Temple in Thailand?

Let me Know in the Comments!

This post is part of the Temples of Chiang Mai-series, in which we visit the following temples:

1. Wat Chedi Luang
2. Wat Suan Dok
3. Wat Phra Singh
4. Wat Pha Lat
5. Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep
6. Wat Umong
7. Wat Phra That Doi Kham

We have two more temples to visit in this series.

In the next post, we will visit Wat Umong!

Credit: all images are my own.

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