Wat Phra Yuen ‘Pay respect to the Lord Buddha statue of the standing manner.’
The word ‘phra’ here means ‘Lord Buddha statue’ in English. Also, ‘yuen’ means ‘stand’. Wonder where the name came from? If yes, let’s see then.
Wat Phra Yuen is a temple in Lamphun province. There is a golden Lord Buddha statue in there. The statue is in standing manner. That’s why it’s called ‘Phra Yuen’. You will want to pay respect to the statue as soon as you get there.
This Wat Phra Yuen is believed to be the former Wat Aranyikaram. There’s a legend says, in the year 1369, Phaya Kue Na invited Phra Sumon Dhera from Sukhothai to Chiang Mai and offered him Wat Phra Yuen as the shelther.
Phra Yuen temple has a chedi (stupa) with a large square base and four tall standing Buddha images in arched niches. Elderly residents have recorded that the original structure at the site of the present chedi was a mondop (the Thai term derived from Sanskrit maṇḍapa meaning a pavilion and denoting a small square temple building used to house minor images or religious) with a pinnacled wooden roof.
Anyway, the golden Lord Buddha statue is located in the rugged white vihara with a pointy roof. To get up there, you need to follow the stairway. In fact, there are four of the Buddha statue. Yes. Each one on each direction of the vihara, totally 4.
Beside of this, you can walk around to see other architectures too, including the pavillion and the vihara with two golden Naga statues on the handrails.
How to get there
Wat Phra Yuen is located in Muang County. The temple located 1 km. east across the bridge over the Kuang River in front of Wat Phrathat Haripunchai and the town office. It is one of oldest temples in Northern Thailand. When you reach to the heart of the province. Soon you will find your way to turn right to the town office. Just keep going for about 500 metres.
Nearby Places
The monument is about 600 metres away from the museum. It contains a statue of the first ruler of Hripunchai, who was also a brave woman and an intelligent philosopher.
This is a very interesting tourist attraction. The place contains the remains of Camadevi’s beloved elephant and her son’s horse inside two pagodas. You should see that for your self. Around the area, the atmosphere is great and you can relax yourself or have a sightseeing.
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