Wat Phra That in Lamphang is truly a "must see", ranking in my top ten of Buddhist temples world-wide. While "ranking" temples is inherently absurd, I suppose, nonetheless, some grab your heart and mind - Wat Phra That is one of those! Plan a multi-hour visit, and just bask in the flow of curiosity, and calm, and color, and architecture, and grand setting that is Phra That!

It is a tribute to the sheer magnetic power of this Wat, that even on our first visit here at last year's Loy Khrathong festival, the choking crowds, sword fighting and joyful noise from the street could not supplant the overwhelming awe one feels in this amazing place. Viewed from across the broad street in front, the place takes on the look of a vast citadel, elevated on its own hill and surrounded by buildings joined to form massive walls. The stairs up to the narrow, wooden-gated main entrance are only the beginning.

There is something about the Lanna twist on Thai architecture that makes it more delicate, more vertical, and more sweeping, even on a large scale, and the entire site here is every bit Lanna. The seated-Buddha-within-Stupa inside the Wiharn has so much detail on the stupa that one could stare at it for an hour peacefully, and yet the details stand out, not as mere pattern or background, but as important elements, and the whole thing somehow does not distract from the Buddha inside. That alone is worth the climb. The site's layout is thematic, the flow is natural, everything is proportional, and nothing is out of place.

The painting is textural, meditative and just outstanding. Old wooden pieces such as candle sconces that might now be in disuse, are restored and placed about as decoration, so that any restorations done to the buildings are never out of place with the history of the place. There are quiet places here, even at Loy Khrathong, and certainly in October! There are beautifully painted columns you want to touch, carvings that make you stare, and whether the place is stuffed full of people or nearly empty (all hail October!) a reverence prevails that cannot be broken.

This is a breathtaking place not to be missed!