Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat Phrachomklao Rachanusorn

White and gold chedis balanced on the very edge of a mountain ridge, often floating above a sea of morning cloud, have made this young mountain monastery in northern Thailand one of the most photographed religious sites in Lampang Province. Officially named Wat Phutthabat Sutthawat and also known as Wat Chaloem Phra Kiat Phrachomklao Rachanusorn, it is most often called by locals Wat Phra Phutthabat Pu Pha Daeng, after the sacred footprint of the Buddha that has drawn pilgrims to this mountain for generations.

Long before any road climbed the slope, villagers from Chae Hom district made the ascent on foot each year through forest and over cliffs to pay homage to the footprint on Doi Phra Bat. One of those who made the walk was Luang Pho Phaibun Sumangkhalo, abbot of Wat Analayo Thipayaram in Phayao and a native of Lampang; his devotion led the monastic community to found a temple near the footprint. It was conceived as a royal commemoration marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of King Mongkut (Rama IV), which fell on 18 October 2004, and it was registered as a temple of the Thammayut order in 2010. The mountain itself lies within the Doi Phra Bat non-hunting area.

The monastery is laid out on three levels. The lowest, sometimes simply called the "lower temple", holds the ordination hall and a chedi; the hall follows Lanna tradition with a two-tiered stepped roof, a pair of guardian lions flanks the approach, and inside sits a replica of the Phra Nirantarai, a Buddha image closely associated with King Mongkut. The middle level, at a misty saddle known as Phu Pha Mok or Doi Chi Mok — "the mountain that catches the mist" — on the boundary between Chae Hom and Mueang Pan districts, shelters the Buddha footprint itself, both a replica in a pavilion and the impression in the natural rock nearby; a festival in its honour is held every year on the full-moon day of the eighth lunar month. The highest level is the summit of Doi Phra Bat, reached by a steep steel stairway of roughly a kilometre that winds up from the Mueang Pan side. Here a golden chedi crowns the peak, and five white chedis stand along the rim of the crags, looking out over the valleys of Chae Hom and back down to the temple below.

Getting there

The temple stands above the village of Ban Thung Thong in Wichet Nakhon subdistrict, Chae Hom district, about 6 km from the town of Chae Hom and roughly 50 km north of the city of Lampang. The nearest airport is Lampang Airport (LPT), about 53 km away in a straight line; Chiang Mai lies across the mountains to the west. A steep road links the lower temple with the middle level, and the summit is reached on foot by the stairway.