Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

1126 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Late medieval · Buddhist · Thailand

Wat Phra That Lampang Luang

Lampang, Lampang · 18.2172°, 99.3889°

Gautama Buddha (relics)LannaLanna
Sacred since
1400 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
15th c. (Lanna)
Lanna

History & significance

A walled hilltop monastery founded in the fifteenth century and reckoned among the most authentic surviving examples of Lanna architecture in northern Thailand, enshrining relics said to include a hair of the Buddha and ashes from his forehead and neck. In 1732 Phraya Chaisongkhram launched his surprise attack on the Burmese garrison occupying Lampang from inside the compound, killing their commander and founding the Chet Ton dynasty; bullet damage from the fight is still shown to visitors.

Sthala katha — the legend

Local tradition holds that the Buddha passed this way, accepted honey offered in a bamboo tube by Lawa people, foretold that the place would become the city of Lampakappa Nakhon, and left a hair relic that devotees believe lies beneath the central chedi.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Lanna