I really enjoyed visiting Buddhist temples in Chiang Mai, and with over 200 in that city alone, there was always a new one to explore! I learned that there are 12 temples dotted all over Thailand dedicated to the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. From childhood, I was told I was born in the Year of the Rooster. And I hated it. I never wanted to be a Rooster, "who wants to be a chicken?!" I would cry. I wanted to be the Monkey. Monkeys are cute and funny and mischievous. But I wasn't a Monkey and I finally began to accept that I was a Rooster.
However...: On a side note, I recently discovered this year that I actually am a Monkey...although my year of birth was the Year of the Rooster, my date of birth was still during the Year of the Monkey. Not gonna lie...I had a bit of an identity crisis once I discovered the truth.
Alas, I digress.
When I was still under the impression that I was a Rooster, I discovered that the Temple of the Rooster was located in Lamphun, Thailand - roughly 20 or so miles from Chiang Mai (that's totally a random guess from memory, I'm too lazy to actually Google the proper distance). On my journey to self-discovery (which I will now have to do all over again), my friend and I got a bus to Lamphun one afternoon. The bus was this rickety old thing and hot as Hades with floor fans - like a fan that you would put on the floor in your house, and not unlike the ones that cause Fan Death in Korea - hanging from the roof of the bus...but what more do you expect for a fifty-cent journey, right?
We made it to Lamphun and after walking around for a bit, found the temple. The temple itself was quite small in comparison to many others, but there were many chedi's on the grounds, covered in mini Buddha statues and offerings. The heat of the day was stifling, I felt like I was melting right along with the candles that were dripping down the sides of the chedi's, turning into puddles of saffron-colored wax.
 |
| Buddha on a chedi |
There's something about this photo that I really love. The colors, the heat, the textures. Saffron is a sacred color in Buddhism...if you see a tree wrapped in a saffron colored cloth, it means it's been blessed by a monk and cannot be removed. You can observe hundreds of trees along the sides of roads that were meant to be cut down for expansion, but were saved by monks - a beautiful visual representation of love and compassion!
My friend and I didn't stay too long at the temple because of the heat. We decided to have a meal and an ice cream, then make our way back to Chiang Mai.
I was happy to have visited the Temple of the Rooster...but now I have to go on a journey of re-self-discovery and find the Temple of the Monkey ;)
Happy Trails!
Hey, hey, I'm a monkey!
