Wat Chedi Luang
Unknown; Lanna royal workshops · Chiang Mai, Thailand · 1441
Wat Chedi Luang is organized around the massive remains of a fifteenth-century Lanna chedi that once dominated Chiang Mai. The stepped brick monument was enlarged under King Tilokaraj and later damaged, leaving a powerful truncated form with surviving elephant sculptures and stairways. Around it, active monastic buildings and newer assembly halls demonstrate that the site is both archaeological monument and living temple. The contrast between the weathered central masonry and brightly maintained ritual spaces is essential to its character. The recorded year refers to completion of the major historic enlargement, not every building in the present compound. Conservation and reconstruction have continued to shape how the chedi is understood.