Wat Phuak Hong

Wat Phuak Hong, which translates lyrically as ‘Temple of Flying Swans’, is a small but interesting Buddhist temple built during the 16th and 17th centuries. It stands just inside the south side of the moat around the Old City, and just round the corner from Suan Buak Haad park, itself worth a visit for its restful grounds.

The temple’s main point of interest is its unusual brick-built chedi, the subject of several differing scholarly interpretations. Mounted on a rectangular base, its layers form a series of seven diminishing brick circles with Buddhas in niches, one atop the other. Though the design is not unique, it is visually very pleasing. Traditionally, Buddhist temples were built with the chedi at their centre, bridging the heavens and the world below and stabilising the earth; chedi often held relics of famous monks or kings, many of which were stolen over the centuries.

The rest of the temple exhibits a true Lanna style of architecture, both in its design and in the traditional gold and red panelling on the gables of the viharn. The viharn’s interior, lavishly decorated with scenes from the Jataka (the Buddha’s previous lives), holds two large gilt-bronze Buddha images, and the stepped entrance is guarded by two sets of lions. Unfortunately the doors are often closed.