Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang, Mae Hong Son

“Wat Chong Kham” and “Wat Chong Klang” are a pair of ‘sibling’ temples, as they are located within the same walls, and both are symbols of Thai Yai culture. Apart from their artistic beauty, both temples serve as cultural and traditional centers for the people of Mae Hong Son. The front area is a public garden called Nong Chong Kham, used as a venue for various ceremonial and cultural activities according to different traditions. Wat Chong Kham, an old temple on the bank of the swamp Nong Chong Kham, was built in 1827 by Tai Yai artisans and got its name from its pillars gilded in gold leaves. The exceptional Tai Yai art of the temple comprises a castle-shaped roof due to the belief that the high court is a monarch’s residence or a place for a religious representative. The temple houses a giant Buddha statue of Luang Por To with a lap width of 4.85 metres cast by Burmese craftsmen. Another Buddha statue replicates Phra Si Sakyamuni (Luang Pho To), the Buddha image in Wat Suthat in Bangkok. Wat Chong Klang is a temple where a replica of the guilded brass Phra Phuttha Sihing is installed on an altar. There are paintings on glass plates of the Vessantara Jataka and the history of the Buddha, as well as pictures depicting people’s lives at that time. Most images have captions in Burmese and are recorded as the work of a Tai Yai craftsman from Mandalay. Wat Chong Klang also makes room for a museum exhibiting wooden figurines of humans and animals brought from Burma in 1857. Open daily 8.00 – 18.00 hrs.