Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep and the Relic

**Lady Hawk** · 25-04-2007, 06:46 PM

The saying go’s “You have never been to Chiang Mai, unless you have visited Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep”.
The Temple dates back to 1338, and has been seen as holy place for more than 12 hundred years.
Sumana Thera a Ceylonese monk had come to the kingdom to spread the teachings of Theravada Buddhism.
While living in Sukhothai, Sumana dreamt that a supreme being appeared to him and urged him to unearth the bone relic of Buddha at the site of the pagoda within the city.
Sumana unearthed the relic and it showed the monk luminous and magical powers.
Taking the relic to the king of Sukhothai the powers the relic had shown to the monk did not appear to the king so he gave it back to Sumana for safe keeping.
Devoted Buddhist king kue Na, on hearing of the relic invited the monk to Chiang Mai.
On arriving in Chiang Mai Sumana stayed at Suan Dok, the monk wanted a place to build a Pagoda to house the relic.
On unwrapping the relic Sumana found that it had split into 2 pieces, one of the pieces was then housed at Wat Suan Dok
King kue Na wanted the other half of the relic to be housed in a special place but could not decide where that special would be.
As legend has it the king then had the relic strapped to the back of a sacred white elephant.

The elephant was let free to roam and for days the kings men tracked the white elephant as it wandered up into the forest of Doi Suthep mountain.
Just short of the summit the elephant trumpeted its last breath and died.
The King ordered that a golden pagoda be built in that exact spot, and the relic housed in the pagoda.

The Wat was then constructed around the golden Chedi.
Standing 3,520 feet above sea level Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep looks majestically over the city of Chiang Mai.

The revered Temple is one of the most holy sites in Thailand.

Only 16km from the centre of the city and a beautifully scenic drive up the mountain.

the Temple is then accessible by a 290 Naga stairway.

In 1981 161sq kilometres 62sq miles of the forest became Thailand’s 24 national park

The highest peak in the park is Doi Pui at 1,685 meters it is the 8th largest mountain in Thailand.

**Lady Hawk** · 25-04-2007, 06:47 PM

Whoops sorry marmers i'm shouting

**ChiangMai noon** · 25-04-2007, 07:00 PM

Lovely pictures LH.

That chap on the bike looks pretty cool.

**Lady Hawk** · 25-04-2007, 07:10 PM

Yeah couldn't get him out of the shots he kept popping up everywhere

**dirtydog** · 25-04-2007, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

That chap on the bike looks pretty cool.

How comes he hasn't got any hair? Genetic or some horrific accident in a burning building?

**Lady Hawk** · 25-04-2007, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

That chap on the bike looks pretty cool.

Noony i know the guy he's not cool he's bloody welsh

**Goddess of Whatever** · 25-04-2007, 10:29 PM

Originally Posted by Lady Hawk

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

That chap on the bike looks pretty cool.

Noony i know the guy he's not cool he's bloody welsh

Hmm... I think I know him.

By the way, thanks for cool piccies!

**Lady Hawk** · 25-04-2007, 10:50 PM

^ cheers GOW

**daveboy** · 26-04-2007, 12:09 AM

Very nice pics looks well worth a visit.

**Marmite the Dog** · 26-04-2007, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by Lady Hawk

While living in Sukhothai, Sumana dreamt that a supreme being appeared to him and urged him to unearth the bone relic of Buddha at the site of the pagoda within the city. Sumana unearthed the relic and it showed the monk luminous and magical powers.

How did the relic get there?

**Lady Hawk** · 26-04-2007, 11:43 PM

Marmite i am researching this at the moment.
As this bone relic is supposed to come from the buddhas coller bone
it is of great significance.
The translated text i am reading is pretty hard going but really interesting

I keep finding different references to where the relic was found either sukothai or Pang cha,this is also making it harder to find who was supposed to have brought the relic into thailand/siam.

**Marmite the Dog** · 27-04-2007, 12:56 AM

^ I wonder if they would let a scientist check it out? It's probably a pig's bone.

Reminds of all the fools who believe in the Turin Shroud and other religious BS.

**DrB0b** · 27-04-2007, 10:02 AM

When I first came to Chiang Mai I stayed at Doi Suthep for 3 weeks. Meditating. Not being the worlds best meditator I spent most of my time chatting to the staff and monks there. They believed that the relic (part of Buddhas Shoulder) is a magical clone of the relic at Wat Phra That Harapunchai in Lamphun. There's probably a story about averting a war or ratifying a treaty between the two cities behind that. The original relic came via Sukothai, I don't know where it came from before that, never checked, the monks weren't particularly interested in that aspect, sadly. It's not particularly impressive, a solid glass ball with some bits of bone inside. Normally in these relics the bone is fused with the glass making it difficult to extract them with smashing everything.

Lady Hawk, if you go to the library in Doi Suthep you can ask to see "Tamnin Phra That Doi Suthep', the Chronicle of the Chedi, apparently all the details are in there. A much more accessible read (ie, it's in English) is "Sacred Mountains of Northern Thailand and Their Legends", by Donald Swearer, published by Silkworm.

**Lady Hawk** · 27-04-2007, 12:11 PM

^^marmite whilst not a beliver of any religion i don't think what someone else believes to be BS.
I just find the whole aspect of religion facinating,from the dead sea scrolls to relic bones.
Dragons gods legends serpents and mystical powers all float my boat they are great storys who elses storys stand the test of time not Mills and Boon thats for sure.

Cheers for the info Dr bob

**DrB0b** · 27-04-2007, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by Lady Hawk

.
I just find the whole aspect of religion facinating,from the dead sea scrolls to relic bones.
Dragons gods legends serpents and mystical powers all float my boat they are great storys who elses storys stand the test of time not Mills and Boon thats for sure.

Agree 100%

**Marmite the Dog** · 27-04-2007, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by Lady Hawk

^^marmite whilst not a beliver of any religion i don't think what someone else believes to be BS. I just find the whole aspect of religion facinating,from the dead sea scrolls to relic bones. Dragons gods legends serpents and mystical powers all float my boat they are great storys who elses storys stand the test of time not Mills and Boon thats for sure.

I find the history of religion fascinating as well, but primarily with regard to separating fact from fantasy. I was going to do a degree course on this subject, but I decided not to dedicate a lot of time into studying the single largest cause of misery in the last few thousand years.

Living here has made me question everything (for better or worse) and Thai Buddhism seems as attached to reality as The Lord of the Rings is.

**DrB0b** · 27-04-2007, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Originally Posted by Lady Hawk

^^marmite whilst not a beliver of any religion i don't think what someone else believes to be BS. I just find the whole aspect of religion facinating,from the dead sea scrolls to relic bones. Dragons gods legends serpents and mystical powers all float my boat they are great storys who elses storys stand the test of time not Mills and Boon thats for sure.

I find the history of religion fascinating as well, but primarily with regard to separating fact from fantasy. I was going to do a degree course on this subject, but I decided not to dedicate a lot of time into studying the single largest cause of misery in the last few thousand years.

Living here has made me question everything (for better or worse) and Thai Buddhism seems as attached to reality as The Lord of the Rings is.

But the Lord of The Rings is the authentic history of Arda between the time of the fall of Numenor and the world being made round and the beginning of the Fourth Age. I have my doubts about the veracity of the pre-Numenorian histories as they have a highly pro-Eldarin slant.

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