Chiang Kham - Wat Nantaram - To Begin Again

December 25, 2022

Chiang Kham - Wat Nantaram

Burmese Teakwood Temple

I have failed to be completely honest. Christmas Day was not the complete flop that I portrayed in the previous post. In the late afternoon of Christmas Day we saw an intriguing thing on Google Maps in Chiang Kham, "Wat Nantaram - The Big Teakwood Temple."

Of course I wanted to see a teak temple. Everything worth seeing is very centrally located in Chiang Kham so it wasn't like it was far away.. We were expecting another typical Thai temple only this time made of teak but what we found was a large and beautiful Burmese temple made exclusively of teak. It was only around a hundred years old which meant it was in remarkably good condition. It was spectacula! We love Burmese temples and the way we have occasionally been feeling (really sad about what's happening in Burma) it was heart-warming to have stumbled on a most beautiful Burmese temple in the most unlikely of places, nowhere near Burma! Apparently a rich person in Chiang Kham commissioned someone to design and build a Burmese temple. I don't know the specifics.

Besides the normal Burmese Buddha statues and the design of the building being unmistakably Burmese -rather low ceiling and big wide area where the principal Budda statues sit - there was a curious museum of sorts in the back areas as well! There were odd (to us) things such as 40 year-old televisions and appliances from the same recent past. A movie projector, stereo equipment and clocks mixed in with real antiques like old Burmese lacquerware, old money, wooden cow bells, a bicycle, etc. And then there were also a few poorly preserved animals such as a sea turtle and a monkey. Very odd museum for sure but it was also fascinating to see what someone deemed worthy of being in a museum. There were also nice old Buddha statues in glass cases, which in the midst of all the other odd stuff seemed oddly out of place!!

We spent a lot of time in Wat Nantaram soaking it all in and we took a fair number of photos, so many that I figured it was worthy of an entry of its own.
Enjoy Wat Nantaram.

lovebruce

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Rachael AndersonWhat a beautiful temple!
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1 year ago

Scott AndersonWhat an exceptional place. We’ll worthy of its own post.
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1 year ago

Bruce LellmanTo Rachael AndersonIt really is. We are so glad we got to see an exceptionally gorgeous Burmese temple. I'd give anything for the war to end in Burma. Besides all the senseless killing I fear they will lose a lot of their cultural artifacts and temples as well.
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1 year ago

Gregory GarceauThat is truly a beautiful temple. I wonder how many layers of varnish are on those high-gloss floors.
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1 year ago

Victa CalvoBruce,
That temple is magnificent. It alone is worth a trip to Thailand. With or without Khao Soi.
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1 year ago

Bruce LellmanTo Victa CalvoI love this temple. I like Chiang Kham too even if it is a rather small town with not a lot going on. This temple was the highlight for sure.
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1 year ago