21 Dec 2013 Saturday

I spent time on Saturday walking around a bit, and in particular, I returned to one of my favorite temples, Wat Suan Dok, outside the walled city, almost a mile from 3-Sis.

Wat Suan Dok is a very sacred temple, and the grounds outside the main, very large viharn (worship hall) are a large grouping of all while chedi (pagodas) with one very large gold chedi in which a very sacred relic lies. Wat Suan Dok is beautiful in its reverance and dignity. This view is of the large gold chedi. The name, Wat Suan Dok, translated means Flower Garden Temple, but there are no gardens here. In the late 1300s, King Kue Na’s flower garden was located here, and lent the temple its original name: Wat Buppharam Dok Mai or Wat Suan Dok Mai for short.

According to legend a monk from the Sukhothai Kingdom, after having had a vision, discovered a relic of the Buddha which, also according to the same vision, was to be housed in Chiang Mai. Wat Buppharam Dok Mai (Wat Suan Dok) was built to house the relic. When the moment arrived for the relic to be housed in the newly built temple, it miraculously duplicated itself. One of the relics was housed, as intended, in a shrine inside Wat Buppharam Dok Mai. The other relic was placed on the back of a white elephant with the intention that wherever the elephant stopped, a temple would be built. The elephant apparently was energetic that day, and climbed almost 10 miles up Doi Suthep, the mountain directly west of Chiang Mai, where it trumpeted three times and died. Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep was built on that spot to house the second relic. I’ll be visiting Wat Prathat Doi Suthep soon.

The second picture is of part of the grouping of white chedi that are adjacent to the large gold chedi at Wat Suan Dok. I was not able to get everything in one or two pictures.

After a day of walking out to Wat Suan Dok, and then around much of the wall, I made my way to my first yoga class at Wild Rose Yoga, in the south part of the old city, not far from Chiang Mai Gate. Wild Rose Yoga is in an old teak Thai house, and has great energy. The class I chose fit my needs very well – not too strenuous, just right for my easing my way back into general yoga practice after a couple of years with an elbow injury, of doing standing poses at home, and then the elbow surgery, healing, and rehabilitation. After the class, my elbow was not sore, and while tired, I felt invigorated.

I went off to Kanjana to see about dinner, but Kanjana is still closed, so I went to the Peppermint Tree in the same soi (alley). The Peppermint Tree is owned by an American who has lived in Chiang Mai for a dozen years or more. Good food!

Next … back to yoga