Temples & Museum Cultural Visits

“The artist loved a monotone colour, in which black ” by Arsy

 ”The wooden instruments used for agriculture purposes (rice)"
by Wang bin

During Day 5 of the Chiang Rai field trip, we visited many cultured places like the Baan Dam Museum, Wat Phra Kaew and many more. The museum was a significant art piece of  Thawan Duchanee, a Chiang Rai born Thai artist. The area’s exterior and interior color were completely black and there was many artworks and his prized possessions of his, displayed inside the museum. The artworks were made of animals’ skins and other animal parts. Other than the museum itself, there were many shacks and small huts situated around the museum itself.

There was also a shed which contained a live, humongous sized python which shocked most of us. His artworks portrayed darkness and the place’s atmosphere was very eerie and haunting. Other than the python, the artist's favourite animals like owls were caged up. There was a Thailand branded coffee shop nearby where the drinks sold were very refreshing and nice after such an interesting experience.

The Baan Dam Museum acts a tourist attraction and a mini art gallery. It is very unique as it displays a rare sort of art and the displays are also displayed outdoor while most of  the art galleries are held indoors. To the locals, the museum is more of an appreciation and recognition of a local artist.

After that we visited a temple, where a gigantic sized Buddha was placed at the end of a grand hall.

”It was appealing because it was around ten times of my size. ” by Chung Hung

Outside, surrounding the temple, we saw many statues like dragon bodied animals, numerous Buddha structures surrounding the temple which seemed to us like they were guarding the temple. At the front of the temple, the railing leading to the entrance had a huge blue creature called a “Nak” which looks like a dragon, and the specialty of it was that the creature was swallowing one of its own kinds.  

It has its unique traits which makes it stand out from the other temples in Chiang Rai. This makes it a must-see in Chiang Rai as all the structures are blue when they are usually gold in the other temples. To the locals, the temple is a place where they come to pray and is also a home to monks.

We also went out to Wat Dai Ngam Mueang where we had to climb a lot of step to arrive at the temple. Most of us were entertained by counting the steps and there was a pond situated nearby with turtles and fishes. There were also many Buddha statues located near the bottom of the steps that led to the temple. 

“There were statues to show what Buddha was doing on each of the 7 day. It was rather quiet as people were praying there. ” by Fannie

temple’s interior was beautiful and all the structures were painted red and blue with a Buddha in the middle.

 

We went to another temple where there was a well that collected rainwater. The water collected was known to be holy water and there was a golden utensil which was used to gather the water. 

“The place is very ancient with most of the infrastructure left untouched.” by Valerie