Wat Phra Yuen

The temple was not originally called Wat Phra Yuen. It is believed that Queen Chamadevi founded the monastery around 670 CE (1213 BE), seven years after her enthronement. According to legend, it was first known as Araññikarama. The present name derives from the principal standing Buddha image, which according to temple records was cast in 1063 CE (1606 BE) during the reign of King Thammikarat, the 32nd ruler of Hariphunchai. The bronze image is 9 metres tall (18 cubits). It was originally enshrined in a stupa (behind the vihāra). At that time, the monastery was known as Wat Phuttharam. In 1369 CE (1912 BE), King Kue Na of Lanna, who ruled Chiang Mai and Lamphun, commissioned three additional standing Buddha images. The Tamnan Mulasasana (legendary chronicle) mentions that King Kue Na invited the monk Phra Sumanthera from Sukhothai to Chiang Mai, where he stayed at Wat Phra Yuen in Hariphunchai. By then, one standing Buddha image already existed. In 1904 CE (2447 BE), Phra Khru Sinwilat (Khru Ba Wong), ecclesiastical governor of Lamphun, together with Chao Inthayongyos, ruler of Lamphun, restored the main stupa. The new structure enclosed all four standing Buddhas inside, while additional smaller standing Buddha images were placed on each side of the stupa. In 1928 CE (2471 BE), the Fine Arts Department registered Wat Phra Yuen’s stupa as a national monument. During the restorations of 2005–2006, the Department carried out structural repairs and landscape improvements, uncovering ancient brick foundations believed to date back to the temple’s original construction. Excavations revealed a Sukhothai-style stupa base, an ancient brick-paved road, monastic foundations, and on 13 February 2006, a Hariphunchai-style Buddha head from the 12th–13th centuries, along with numerous other artifacts beneath the chedi behind the Vihāra Phra Chao Thanjai. == Architecture and structures ==

The stupa is built in the Bagan style, resembling the stupa at Thatbyinnyu Temple in Bagan. It is raised on a tiered platform with steps leading to an upper circumambulatory terrace surrounded by a kampaeng kaeo (balustrade wall). At the four corners stand small satellite stupas. The square main body has niches on each side housing standing Buddha images. Above is a three-tiered ornamental mold, surmounted by a gilded umbrella (chatra). On one stairway, a relief sculpture of a tiger is set into the wall. A small building under the trees houses the Wat Phra Yuen inscription (No. 62), a slate stone stele shaped like a bai sema, dated to 1371 CE (1913 BE). Nearby is the Sala Bat (Nine-Room Pavilion), once used for religious ceremonies. The vihāra, first built during Queen Chamadevi’s reign, was most recently restored in 1994 CE (2537 BE). Inside is an ancient principal Buddha image, contemporary with the original vihāra, surrounded by newly painted mural paintings by local artists depicting the Life of the Buddha. Smaller standing Buddha images are also enshrined within. The ordination hall (ubosot) at the main entrance is guarded by sculpted mom creatures and enshrines the principal Buddha image known as Phra Sakyamuni Si Sumana or Luang Pho Yai. At the back of the temple is a local museum, founded in 2004 CE (2547 BE), displaying old religious and cultural artifacts such as scripture cabinets, manuscript chests, lacquerware, pottery, ritual objects (sattaphan), khan tok trays, and painted phra bot. == References ==