Wat Chamthewi

Queen Chamadevi came from the Mon kingdom of Lopburi in the eighth century to rule Hariphunchai, the kingdom centred on what is now Lamphun, which makes her one of the earliest named rulers in Thai history and the founder of a state that lasted until the Lanna conquest in 1281. Wat Chamthewi holds her ashes, and its chedi, Suwan Chang Kot, is a stepped pyramid of five square tiers with fifteen niches on each level - sixty standing Buddha figures in stucco, decreasing in size upward. The form is Mon rather than Thai and there are few comparable buildings; the current structure is a twelfth-century rebuilding of an eighth-century original. It lost its gold pinnacle centuries ago, which gives the temple its local name of Wat Kukut, the temple without a top. A second octagonal chedi stands beside it. The temple is quiet and free, and Lamphun gets a fraction of Chiang Mai's visitors.

What you actually see

• Suwan Chang Kot - the stepped pyramid with sixty standing Buddhas.
• The Mon form - architecture unlike the Thai chedis elsewhere in the north.
• The missing pinnacle - the lost top that gives it the name Wat Kukut.
• The Chamadevi connection - the eighth-century queen whose ashes it holds.

When to go

November to February. Any time of day; it is never crowded. An hour covers it, and Lamphun is half an hour from Chiang Mai.

Honest expectations

Small and quiet with minimal facilities. The stucco figures are weathered and several are restorations. Free, with donation boxes. Little English interpretation.

Nearby

Wat Phra That Hariphunchai is in central Lamphun; Chiang Mai is north.