• 
• 

Chiang Mai is acknowledged as the modern repository of Lanna culture, but Lamphun is its old and stillbeating heart. No less than 14 centuries of royal history course through the veins of the adjoining province and its capi¬tal of the same name, where the Hariphunchai kingdom flourished under Queen Chamthewi.

In the late 12th century King Mengrai put an end to female rule, invading Lamphun and integrating Hariphunchai into the Lanna kingdom.

What Chiang Mai flaunts in relative brashness, Lamphun more than makes up for in quiet charm. Getting there alone is breathtaking, the drive from Chiang Mai shaded by yang trees and scenic with orchards and paddy fields.

Once past the village of Ban Pak Kong you roll out of Chiang Mai's Sarapee district into Lamphun, at Ban UMong, with cassia trees lining both sides of the highway.

Buddhist monks from Lop Buri founded the Hariphunchai kingdom in AD 663, well before Mengrai established Chiang Mai. Like the priests, Chamthewi was of Mon origin.

Wat Chamthewi, also known by its older name Wat Kukut, sits on the north edge of the moat that rings old Lamphun town.

It's a small temple but highly revered for its Dvaravati-era pagoda, the Rattana Chedi. Inside, it's believed, rest the ashes of the great queen.

In front of the main hall is the 21metretall Suwan Chang Kot Chedi, the finest surviving example of Mon architecture and all the more startling for its venerable age.

Chamthewi's name is every¬where in Lamphun, adorning a road here and a school there. At Nong Dok Park in the town centre is a bronze statue of her holding a sword in her left hand and reaching out with her right.

Women kneel before the queen's statue and amulets bearing her like¬ness are sold from a nearby stall, indicative of the faith she still com¬mands.

The road next to the monument has a string of food stalls that are busy in the evenings until late, while nearby Nong Dok Market opens early in the morning to provide fresh fruit and vegetables.

Bristling with temples, Lamphun regards as its holiest Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, built by King Arthitayarat, a descendant of Chamthewi. It's easy to find from Nong Dok Market, but ask any tri¬cyclerickshaw driver if you're not sure. 

The temple sits by the River Kuang, which bisects the town north to south. It's said the original town layout corresponded to the length of the river, with Arthitayarat's palace right in the middle, on the eventual site of Wat Phra That Hariphunchai.

Among the striking architecture at the temple is the main hall, which houses a sacred statue of the Phra Chao Thong Thip Buddha.

The 46metre golden pagoda reflects the Chiang Saen style in the ninth century. Its nine-tiered umbrella gleams with half a kilo¬gram of gold. Few visitors realise this was the model for the Phra That Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai.

Elsewhere are impressive viharas, more Buddha images and a scripture hall, and a huge bronze gong that the locals claim is the biggest in the world.

Across the road from the rear entrance is the Hariphunchai National Museum, with a wealth of bronze and stucco religious works and Dvaravadi and Lanna-style artefacts.

And just across a covered bridge on the river is Kad Kua Mung, Lamphun's best place to buy local handicrafts and produce.

Not far away is the small village of Ban Vieng Yong, the centuries-old home of members of the Yong ethnic minority.

They have their own small muse¬um, enjoyable for its dusty old curiosities, and you can watch weavers creating gorgeous mai yok dok cloth.

The elderly women are happy to show people around and will rush to open a cabinet and bring out their fabric masterpieces.

Smiles and serene attitudes are commonplace in Lamphun, in the town and out on the farms growing longan, the province's chief crop.

Ban Pasang Noi is the home village of the celebrated National Artist Inson Wongsam, best known as a woodcarver who's modernised inherited traditions.

He welcomes visitors each week¬end to see the sculptures and prints in his Dhamma Park Gallery and Heritage Gardens and contemplate quietly on a bridge across a lotus pond.

Inson's life and works are depicted at the gallery in an exhi¬bition by Navin Rawanchaikul called "Fly With Me to Another World". You can see the famed craftsman's works touring the world in a Lambretta!