Wat Phra Singh
Unknown; Lanna royal and monastic workshops · Chiang Mai, Thailand · 1345
Wat Phra Singh is a major royal monastery within Chiang Mai's old city and a touchstone of Lanna architecture. Its most celebrated building, Viharn Lai Kham, combines a low, layered roof with gilded and lacquered surfaces, carved timber and important mural paintings. The compound also includes a large assembly hall, library, chedi and monastic courts, each representing different phases of patronage. The temple remains active and is central to annual Songkran rituals involving the revered Phra Singh Buddha image. The founding date records the fourteenth-century establishment of the monastery, while much of the visible fabric is later or restored. Its value lies in the continuity between art, architecture and living ceremony.