Doi Suthep-temple in Chiang Mai

The temples in Chiang Mai are the result of influences from its immediate neighbours Laos and Myanmar, and farther afield places like Sri Lanka and China. Doi Suthep is the temple that I visited in Chiang Mai, though Doi Suthep is actually the name of the mountain where the temple is located, so this is what they call it. The temple is said to be founded in 1383 when the first chedi was built; a chedi is a mound-like structure that contains Buddhist relics, once thought to be places of Buddhist worship, it typically houses the remains of a Buddha or saint. When we arrived at the temple, we had to climb the 309 steps to reach the pagodas at the top. Aspects of the Wat draw from both Buddhism and Hinduism. We saw various Buddha imagines, but apparently in most temples the Buddha image will be at the far end of the hall and face east, for that is the direction that Buddha achieved Enlightenment. The buddhas have different looks, some of them have their hands open upward, some have their hands on their laps, some have their hands in a meditating position, and each of these positions mean something different. At Doi Suthep there were many bells situated all around. Large Buddhist bells are usually heard in isolation, and their sound is complex and varied. However smaller untuned bells are arrayed in large sets around temples in Thailand. Devotees strike each bell for the forgiveness of a sin as they ascend the temple; we saw many people walking along striking each bell in the line, how sad they think that ringing a bell will grant them forgiveness.