Wat Chet Yot

THAILAND, Chiang Mai

Wat Chet Yot means Temple of the Seven Spires. According to the records, the temple was built in 1455 by King Tilokaraja (reigned 1441–1487) to commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of Buddhism. It is said that the Eighth Buddhist Council was held at this temple in 1477.
The principal structures in the temple are the main hall and the ordination hall. The main hall is built in a form resembling the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya in India. It has a group of seven stupas erected on its roof. The central stupa consists of a slender pyramid, surmounted by a spire of stacked rings. Four ancillary stupas are positioned around the central stupa and are similar to the central stupa but on a smaller scale. The remaining two ancillary stupas are in the form of an inverted bowl with stacked rings and are located at the corners in the front. There is a 16 m long barrel-vaulted passage leading into the hall on the east side. A seated Buddha statue is placed at the end of the passage. On both sides of the Buddha statue are narrow stairs leading to the top of the hall, but the stairs are sealed off. The outer walls of the hall have upper and lower sections divided by pilasters to form panels, which contain reliefs of heavenly beings. The ordination hall has a simple form with a carved wooden pediment.