Wat Ban Den

Wat Ban Den, properly Wat Den Salee Sri Muang Gan, was an ordinary village temple until the abbot Kruba Theuang began an expansion in the 1980s that has not really stopped - the compound now covers a large area of hillside with an enormous gilded viharn, a chedi, naga stairways, and a row of twelve pavilions, one for each animal of the Thai zodiac, each holding a Buddha image in the posture associated with that year. Thai visitors come to make merit at the pavilion for their birth year, which is a widespread northern practice. Everything is modern Lanna work - white, gold, red and green, densely ornamented, built by craftsmen over three decades - and it is unapologetically new rather than historic, which is the main thing to know. It is free, gets a steady flow of Thai visitors and few foreigners, and sits an hour north of Chiang Mai on the Mae Taeng road.

What you actually see

• The zodiac pavilions - twelve halls, one for each birth year animal.
• The gilded viharn - the large main hall, densely ornamented.
• The modern Lanna craft - built over three decades from the 1980s.
• The scale - a hillside compound rather than a single temple building.

When to go

November to February. Weekends bring Thai merit-makers. An hour or two covers it. It is an hour's drive from Chiang Mai and needs a car.

Honest expectations

Entirely modern construction - visitors expecting a historic temple are in the wrong place. An hour's drive each way. Free but with donation boxes at each pavilion. Temple dress code applies.

Nearby

Mae Taeng and the Mae Ngat reservoir are close; Chiang Dao is further north.