Wat Lok Moli: Topknot of the World

Part of Ancient Chiang Mai

Just outside the old walled city of Chiang Mai, north of the moat on Thanon Mani Nopharat, stands the ancient sanctuary of Lok Moli or 'topknot of the world'. Located about 400m west of the Chang Puak Gate, immediately to the west of Mani Nopharat Soi 2, it is distinguished by one of the most imposing chedi in the city. In times past it must have fairly dominated the skyline of the old Hua Wiang Quarter, now a part of Sri Phum District, where it is located. Even today its size and elegance cannot fail to impress.

We have no exact date for the founding of this temple, though it is thought that King Ku Na, the 6^th monarch of the Mangrai Dynasty (1263-1578), who ruled the Lan Na Kingdom from Chiang Mai between about 1367 and 1388, established the temple near the beginning of his reign. It was probably a royal temple, since the northern side of the city was a royal precinct at the time; certainly the sanctuary enjoyed a long and close association with the Mangrai rulers. According to a notice at the south entrance of the temple, Ku Na invited a group of ten monks from Burma to come and live in Chiang Mai, providing Lok Moli as a residence for them. Two metal plaques erected within the temple grounds by the Department of Fine Arts note that these ten monks were students of Phra Maha Utumphon Buppha Maha Sami of Nakhon Phan in Burma-probably Mong Pan, north of Mae Hong Son in the eastern part of Shan State.

David Henley / CPA

Viharn and chedi at Wat Lok Moli, Chiang Mai.

The huge chedi that distinguishes Lok Moli was built in 1527, perhaps after the orders of the 11^th Mangrai monarch, King Muang Kaeo (1495-1526), but apparently during the first year of the first reign of his younger brother, King Ket Chettharat (1526-1538). The Chiang Mai Chronicle notes: 'In 1527/28 the Hua Wiang Quarter was made into a temple and named Wat Lokamoli. In the year 1528/29 a chedi and a viharn were built at Wat Lokamoli'. The chedi was thus built at the end of Lan Na's "Golden Age" (between 1141 and 1526) and at the beginning of the period of decline that would culminate in the Burmese conquest of 1558.

King Ket Chettharat's rule was undistinguished, and when he made the mistake of alienating his court officials by appointing an unpopular governor to rule over Chiang Saen he was deposed in 1538. King Ket's son, Thao Chai (1538-1543), was appointed to rule in his stead, but appears to have been still more of a disaster. The Chronicle notes tersely that Thao Chai 'did not reign in conformity with the ten royal precepts', so the leading court officials-who clearly wielded considerable power-had him executed and recalled his father to the throne.

King Ket Chettharat's second reign (1543-1545) seems to have been no more distinguished than his first. Reading between the lines of the Chiang Mai Chronicle, it seems that Ket Chettharat antagonised the established Buddhist order by seeming to favour the minority 'Red Forest' monks of Wat Padaeng, to the west of the city. Whatever the reason, the Chronicle records that the king was assassinated to the north of the Royal Plaza-thought to be the area between today's Yuppharat School and Chang Puak Gate-by court officials including the son of Mun Ai, head of the palace elephant corps. He was cremated at Wat Saen Phok (location now unknown) and his bones were interred in the great chedi of Wat Lok Moli. It is probable the remains of his queen were also interred here after her death. This event ushered in what the Chronicle bleakly calls a 'Kali Epoch', signalling decline and decay for the Lan Na Kingdom and its capital, Chiang Mai.

King Ket Chettharat was followed by his daughter, Queen Maha Thewi Chiraprapha, who ruled as regent (1545-46). According to the Chronicle: 'on the sixth day of the waning moon of the 10th month (June 30 1545) Queen Chiraprapha performed merit-making ceremonies in memory of King Chettharat at Wat Lokamoli while the King of the South (Ayutthaya) donated 5,000 units of silver to build a funerary monument for him'. Just two weeks later 'on the fourth day of the waning moon at dusk' (12 July 1545) 'there was a very loud earthquake. The finial of the Maha Chedi Luang and that of the reliquary at Wat Phra Singh broke off and nine other reliquaries were also destroyed'. Whether the great chedi at Wat Lok Moli was one of those damaged by the earthquake is not recorded, but the omens for Chiang Mai, clearly, were far from good.

The House of Mangrai continued to rule Lan Na for a further 23 years, but even before the assassination of King Ket Chettharat was already in terminal decline. On 2 April 1558, in the early hours of the morning, during the reign of King Mae Ku, the 17th ruler of the Mangrai Dynasty (1551-1564), Burmese forces loyal to King Bayinnaung of Pegu captured Chiang Mai almost without opposition. Mae Ku became a vassal ruler, and was exiled in 1564, being replaced by his wife, Queen Wisuttha Thewi. When she died in 1578 she was succeeded by the Burmese Tharyarwaddy Prince, marking the end of the Mangrai Dynasty, of Lan Na independence, and the beginning of more than two centuries of Burmese hegemony. After a 'lavish funeral' Queen Wisuttha Thewi's ashes were interred in the great chedi at Wat Lok Moli, once again indicating the royal status of the temple-but for the last time.

During the long years of Burmese rule Wat Lok Moli seems to have dropped out of the pages of history, perhaps because its past association with the independent Mangrai rulers of Chiang Mai did not sit well with the new Burmese rulers, or perhaps simply because it had lost its royal patronage; certainly the Fine Arts Department notice by the south entrance to the temple notes that 'the chedi houses the ashes of the Mangrai Dynasty and was maintained by them until the end of the dynasty'. Whatever the reason, it seems clear that from 1578 the temple enjoyed diminishing status, and at some point it became disestablished and abandoned. There are no further references to Lok Moli in the Chiang Mai Chronicle until after the expulsion of the Burmese in 1775. Then, in 1825, during the first year of the reign of Chao Phuttawong (1825-1846), the 5th of the Chiang Mai Lords, we learn that 'lightning struck the Great Reliquary of Wat Lok [Moli] on the seventh waning of the first month (20 October 1825). It is interesting to note that the Chronicle still calls Lok Mali a wat or temple in this reference, but this cannot be taken as proof that the sanctuary had not yet been disestablished. During the interregnum of 1775 and 1797, when Chao Kavila of Lampang (the 2^nd of the Chiang Mai Lords, 1782-1816) emptied the city and it became the haunt of tigers and wild elephants, Lok Moli must almost certainly have been abandoned, though given the huge dimensions of its imposing chedi it can hardly have been forgotten. Still, it is not known to have functioned as a temple during the remainder of the 19^th and the 20^th centuries. The temple buildings were either demolished or collapsed, and the bricks and timbers were removed, doubtless for use in other buildings. The great chedi survived, however, and was certainly venerated by local people throughout the period.

Lok Moli's fortunes finally began to turn in 1959, when it was registered as an ancient monument by the Fine Arts Department. At this time all that remained of the former temple was the chedi-still in remarkably good condition-and the brick base of the former ubosot, or ordination hall. For the next four decades little was done in the way of restoration, but at least the former temple land was cleared and delimited, while the chedi was preserved. Then, on Saturday 16 November 2002, at the start of the annual Yi Peng (Loy Krathong) festivities, an auspicious Buddhist ceremony was held at Lok Moli to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, and the 50^th anniversary of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. This event marked the effective re-establishment of Lok Moli as a wat and the symbolic return of royal patronage to the temple-albeit that of the Chakri Dynasty in Bangkok rather than that of a local ruler.

The temple's 'resurrection' began in 2003 with the construction of a new wooden viharn or prayer hall, built in traditional Northern style, with turned wooden spindles forming the grilles on the windows. The columns of the interior are finished with a rich ochre lacquer, and a large bronze Buddha image in the samadhi mudra (meditation position) dominates the northern end of the prayer hall. A new brick wall was built to separate the temple from the busy street bordering the moat, as well as from the quieter lane to the east. An elaborately ornate brick and stucco gateway was completed in mid-2004 to provide a formal entrance to the temple grounds.

David Henley / CPA

Queen Chiraprapha statue at Wat Lok Moli, Chiang Mai.

In the south-western corner of the sanctuary a new octagonal pavilion with a three-tiered roof surmounted by a single finial has been constructed of teak to house a statue of Queen Chiraprapha, styled Phra Nang Chao Chiraprapha Maha Thewi (in Thai). The plaque beneath the statue explains (again in Thai) that Queen Chiraprapha was a contemporary of the legendary Thai heroine Queen Suriyothai, the wife of King Chakkraphat of Ayutthaya (1548-1569) who helped defeat a Burmese invasion in 1549. This figure, cast in 2002 by Thai sculptor Worawot Keotip, is already attracting a devoted following, predominantly female, and looks certain to become a popular shrine much-venerated by the women of Chiang Mai. The Chiang Mai Chronicle, (like the Jinakalamali, which ends with the first reign of King Ket Chettharat, Queen Chiraprapha's father), makes no mention of the Queen's funeral arrangements, but it is possible-even probable-that her ashes were interred, like those of her father, in the maha chedi at Wat Lok Moli.

Behind the pavilion and viharn are newly-constructed quarters for monks and, in the north-western section of the sanctuary, the well-preserved brick foundations, standing about 1m high, of the ancient ubosot.

The great chedi of Wat Lok Moli, which has withstood the political and climatic travails of nearly five centuries, is in remarkably good shape. It stands on a large, three-tiered square base and square lotus pedestal decorated with moulded torus rings. The chamber of the chedi is constructed in a double-rabbeted square style with a niche for Buddha images on each of its four sides, and stucco depictions of two thevada (celestial beings) at each corner of the chamber. On top of the chamber are more moulded torus rings, surmounted by a round bell-shaped feature and tall spire. It remains one of the most impressive chedi in Chiang Mai, and looks set to stand for at least another five centuries.

Text by Andrew Forbes, images by David Henley. © CPA Media, 2004

Contributions

1. A magnificent golden htee (Thai = plee) was raised on the summit of the great chedi at Wat Lok Moli in April, 2005, symbolising the re-establishment of this ancient temple after centuries of abandonment. [AF]