Wat Srisuphan: Chiang Mai’s Silver Temple

To the south of Chiang Mai’s walled Old Town lies the traditional silver-making district of the city. Centring on Wualai Road, this area is dotted with silver shops, but is probably best known to tourists as the location of the Saturday Walking Street Market, the smaller version of the excellent Sunday Walking Street Market that sets up each weekend in Chiang Mai. But what many of the shoppers may not realise is that a small lane off Wualai Road leads to one of the most unusual temples in northern Thailand.

The silver ubosot

The temple here was first founded in 1501 under King Mengrai and given the name Wat Srisuphan Aram. Since the original construction, the temple has been renovated and redesigned a number of times.

The most recent reincarnation of the temple began in 2004 under the direction of the abbot, Phra Kru Phithatsuthikhun. Rather than using standard temple renovation…