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This temple was originally called as the "Wat Pa Yia", which means the Temple in the Yellow Bamboo Forest in Thai language. Wat Phra Kaeo is the most important and revered Buddhist temple which once housed the ‘original’ Emerald Buddha.
Although the history and origin of this temple are somewhat vague, according to the common belief, a lightning had struck the chedi of this temple in 1434 and cracked it open to reveal the Emerald Buddha hidden within. As soon as the news reached the king of Lanna, he ordered that the Emerald Buddha be brought to his capital, Chiang Mai. However, it had to be taken to Lampang when the elephant carrying the Emerald Buddha refused to continue its journey towards Chiang Mai. It was, therefore, retained for a brief period, until 1468, in Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, after which it was taken to Laos and then to Chiang Mai. Eventually, the revered original Emerald Buddha was taken to the Grand Palace of Bangkok in 1778 and placed in Wat Phra Kaeo and where it remains even today.
The Wat Phra Kaeo in Chiang Rai houses a replica of the original Emerald Buddha which was prepared by a Chinese artist in 1991 using Canadian jade, to commemorate the 90th birthday of the late Princess Mother. The temple is bestowed with beautiful holy buildings, statuettes and pagodas, but it does not have the typical living quarters for monks that are so common in the other temples of Thailand.
The white walls constructed all around the temple complex are decorated with paintings and images depicting the scenes from Ramakin, the Thai version of the Hindu epic Ramayana. Tourists find the uniquely carved doors, attractive wood carvings, and the strikingly beautiful cobra snakes or nagas flanking the entrance to be extremely appealing and captivating.
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