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Wat Khuan Khah Mah (วัดควรค่าม้า)
Thai. ‘Temple Worthy of
a Horse’. Name of an ancient Buddhist temple
in
Chiang Mai.
Its strange but catchy name is believed to be a corruption of Wat
Khun Khah Mah (วัดคุณค่าม้า), which similarly means ‘Temple of the
Valuable Horse’.
According to legend, it is an
area where once horses were raised in a time when they were still
used as an important means of transportation. Later, when the use of
horses declined and his last horses perished, the breeder gave this
land away to build a temple in order to mourn and remember the
horses that were once raised here. The
name of the temple is today symbolized in the many statues of golden
horses, both small and large in size, that decorate the temple. In
one section of the temple, aligned with the northern wall of the
temple, are
large scale imitation models
of the 12 pagodas in Thailand, i.e. eleven in the north and one in
the northeast, that contain Buddha relics of various years of the
Chinese zodiac, here
summarized in the order of the
12 Animal Signs of the
Zodiac corresponding to the 12 Earthly Branches,
i.e. 1.
Wat Phrathat Sri Chom Thong Wora
Wihaan (fig.)
in Chiang Mai, Year of the
Rat;
2.
Wat Phrathat Lampang
Luang (fig.)
in
Lampang,
Year of the
Ox; 3.
the
stupa of
Wat Phrathat Cho Hae
(fig.)
in
Phrae,
Year of the
Tiger;
4.
Wat
Phrathat
Chae Haeng (วัดพระธาตุแช่แห้ง) in
Nan,
Year of the
Rabbit;
5.
Phrathat
Chedi
Wat Phra Singh
(fig.)
in
Chiang Mai,
Year of the
Dragon;
6.
Phrathat
Wat Chedi Jed Yod
(fig.)
in
Chiang Mai,
Year of the
Snake;
7. the
stupa of
Wat Phra Borommathat (วัดพระบรมธาตุ) in
Tak,
Year of the
Horse;
8.
Wat Doi Suthep
(fig.)
in
Chiang Mai,
Year of
the
Goat;
9.
Wat Phrathat Phanom (fig.)
in
Nakhon Phanom,
Year of
the
Monkey;
10.
Wat Phrathat
Haripunchai
(fig.)
in
Lamphun,
Year of
the
Cock;
11.
whereas for Year of the
Dog
normally the
stupa of
Wat Ket Karam
(fig.)
in
Chiang Mai
is used, here the
Golden Rock
at
Kyaihtiyo (fig.)
is
depicted, an alternative pagoda in
Myanmar associated with
people born in the Year of the Dog and a such the matching
equivalent abroad;
and 12.
Wat Phrathat Doi Tung
(fig.)
in
Chiang Rai,
Year of the
Pig.
See also EXPLORER'S MAP,
THEMATIC STREET LIGHT,
and
WATCH VIDEO.
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