Wat Ku Tao: Chang Puak's 'Watermelon Temple'

Part of Ancient Chiang Mai

A short distance northeast of the White Elephant Monument in Chiang Mai's Chang Puak District stands perhaps the city's most unusual chedi, the 'watermelon stupa' of Wat Ku Tao. This chedi, which is unique in northern Thailand (and quite probably elsewhere), is built in the form of five diminishing spheres standing on a low, redented square base.

Wat Ku Tao, the temple where this remarkable chedi stands, is located between the Old Chiang Mai Municipality Stadium (sanaam gila gao) and Thanon Pattana Chang Puak, about 200 metres north along Soi Chang Puak 6, on the eastern side of the lane. Little enough is known either of the temple, or of the chedi from which the former gets its present name - ku tao, the ku or reliquary of the tao (watermelon in kham muang, the language of the North). In fact, Wat Ku Tao - although now the commonly accepted name of the temple - is a long-standing colloquialism, and the more formal name given in the Chiang Mai Chronicle is Wat Weluwan Ku Tao, or the 'Temple in the Bamboo Forest with a Watermelon Stupa'. This is repeated in a bilingual inscription at the temple, where it is styled 'Wat Wearuwanaram Vihan'.

David Henley / CPA

Buddha figure and the ubosot, Wat Ku Tao.

There are, and have been for a very long time, two theories as to the origins of the watermelon chedi at Wat Ku Tao. One attributes the architectural style to Yunnan, and suggests invading Chinese soldiers may have been responsible for its construction. The other links it to the Burmese period of rule over Chiang Mai, and more specifically to the early 16th century, perhaps just after the death of King Nawrahtaminsaw (1578-1607). Nawrahtaminsaw was the most illustrious of the various Burmese monarchs to rule over Chiang Mai, and according to this version, his ashes (and possibly those of his wife, Queen Hsinbyushinme) are interred in the watermelon chedi at Wat Ku Tao.

It is difficult to trace the origins of the Chinese version, though as art historian and photographer Michael Freeman points out, the temple was known locally as the 'Chinese Pagoda' until the late 19th century. He adds of the chedi: 'This is a design which is unique in Thailand and which may have been influenced by Yunnanese pagodas, with the five spheres representing the five Jinas ("conqueror" in Sanskrit, referring to the five historical and future Buddhas and to other groupings of five in the Buddhist world). Ceramic flowers in various colours cover most of the spheres in the Chinese style'.

An interesting early account of the Chinese version is found in the Journal of Captain William Couperus McLeod, who visited Chiang Mai as part of his expedition to Lan Na and the Burmese Shan States in 1837, on behalf of the British authorities in India. McLeod notes:

Tradition mentions that an army of Chinese once appeared before [Chiang Mai] much too strong for the inhabitants to cope with; that they had recourse to a stratagem which... proved successful and the means of saving the place. It was agreed that each party should erect a pagoda of a certain height, the thi or umbrella at the top of which should be seen directly by the other, and whichever was first finished the party who erected it was to be considered as the conquerors, and thus bloodshed would be avoided...

The Siamese [sic] formed a high mound of earth, the trees in the town concealing it, and merely raised some brickwork at the top to support the thi which was placed on it, whereas the Chinese, who were far more numerous, built a regular pagoda of brick, which they finished within the prescribed period, with the exception of putting up the thi, but on seeing the one towering above the trees, they were satisfied the Zimméers [people of Chiang Mai] were too numerous, and at once retraced their steps.

Whatever foundation there may be for the story, the pagoda is still called the Chinese Pagoda, and has a Chinese name, Utaú, given it after the commander of the expedition. It differs totally in form from any I have before seen, consisting of five round balls of masonry raised on a square pedestal, each diminishing in size towards the top and without any thi on it. It is situated about 500 yards from the northern face of the inner fort opposite the White Elephant Gate.

It was thus when the Norwegian traveller Carl Bock saw it in 1882: 'Wat Kaotou, now deserted, but once an important place, judging from a very fine phrachedee adjoining, under which a large quantity of silver was said to have been buried, but which was fast falling into decay. When perfect it must have been a magnificent tope'.

It is easier to trace Burmese influences at Wat Ku Tao, though the first reference in the Chiang Mai Chronicle does not come until 1762 when: 'On the first waxing moon of the fourth month' (Saturday18 December) 'nine divisions and nine armies of Burmese came from Ava' and set up camp on the northern outskirts of Chiang Mai. At this time not just Chiang Mai, but all Lan Na, was slipping from Burmese control, and Abhayagamani, the Burmese commander, was intent on reasserting direct Burmese control over the fractious city.

David Henley / CPA

Fasting monk figure, Wat Ku Tao.

The Chronicle continues: 'Generalissimo Abhayagamani set up camp at Wat Welawan Ku Tao and then besieged Chiang Mai'. It is interesting, but perhaps coincidental, that Abhayagamani should have chosen Wat Ku Tao - a temple that still has distinct Burmese associations - as his base, though its strategic location close to the Chang Puak Gate, Chiang Mai's traditional royal entranceway, would have made it both a suitable and symbolic choice as a military encampment.

A further indication of Burmese links with Wat Ku Tao may be found in Michael Vatikiotis' 1984 Ph.D. thesis, Ethnic Pluralism in the Northern Thai City of Chiang Mai. Vatikiotis clearly identifies Wat Ku Tao as part of a group of Shan temples located outside the northern walls of old Chiang Mai, together with Wat Chiang Yeun and Wat Papao. This identification is based in part on a manuscript dating from the reign of King Chulalongkorn (1852-1902) and deposited at Wat Chedi Luang, identifying temples associated with particular non-Muang ethnic groups in the late 19th century.