🛕 **【Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai: A tower of faith in the cracks of time】** 🌅
#2月好去地方2025
The incompleteness of Wat Chedi Luang is just like the essence of faith - it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be real. As you walk around the tower, you will find that every crack is a poem of time and every brick and stone is a footnote of history. 🕊️
### **Background introduction**
Wat Chedi Luang was built in the early 15th century and was once the spiritual center of the Lanna Kingdom. The Great Buddha Pagoda in the temple was originally 82 meters high, but only 60 meters remained after the earthquake in 1545. The incomplete tower looks like a giant with broken arms, but it makes its vicissitudes of life even more beautiful. Legend has it that the pagoda houses Buddha's relics. During the Water-Splashing Festival, monks will take out the relics for believers to bathe the Buddha and pray for blessings.
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### **Travel Guide**
1. **Must-see highlights**: the Jade Buddha Hall on the east side of the Great Pagoda, the City Pillar Shrine on the south side, and the ancient judge's stone chair on the west side.
2. **Cultural experience**: Join the monks’ debates at 6pm every day, or bathe the Buddha and pray during the Songkran Festival.
3. **Hidden Easter Egg**: Find the "talking stone" in the corner of the tower base. It is said that you can hear the whispers of the ancient Lanna language.
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### **Transportation Guide**
📍 Address: 103 Prapokkloa Rd, Tambon Si Phum
- **Walking**: 10 minutes west along Ratchadamnoen Rd from Thapae Gate.
- **Songthaew**: You can hail it and it will stop anywhere in the ancient city. The fare is about 30 baht per person.
- **Night Tip**: The pagoda is lit at night, so it is recommended to go there in the evening to capture the magical moment of the transition from day to night.
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### **Tips**
⚠️ Shoulders and knees must be covered, and free sarongs are available for rent at the entrance.
📿 Walk clockwise around the pagoda, do not step on the threshold or take photos with your back to the Buddha statue.
🌞 Best time to visit: 6-8 am or 5-7 pm, to avoid the midday sun and crowds of tourists.
📵 Photography is prohibited in the Sutra Hall. Please keep your voice down to show respect.
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### **Photography check-in spots**
1. **Full view of the remaining pagoda**: Stand on the steps of the scripture hall on the east side and take a photo of the entire pagoda with the Jade Buddha Hall as the foreground.
2. **Banyan tree roots**: Shoot the aerial roots of the banyan tree on the top of the tower at an upward angle to create a visual sense of "cracks in time".
3. **Night light silhouette**: At dusk, with the illuminated pagoda as the background, shoot silhouettes of people and flying birds.
📸 It is recommended to use a wide-angle lens and increase the contrast to highlight the brick and stone texture and the level of light and shadow.
#Chiangmai