Wat Phra Singh, otherwise known as the Temple of the Lion Buddha, is the most important temple in the city. It houses two of the most valuable medieval statues.
The temple was founded in 1345 by King Phra Yu to bury the ashes of his father, King Kham Phu. Wat Phra Singh received its official name in 1367, when the eponymous statue of Phra Singh, or Lion Buddha, was placed there. In 1922, the Buddha's head was stolen and replaced with an identical replica.
The second relic of Phra Singh Temple is the statue of Phra Singh Noi Buddha (otherwise known as the "small Phra Singh Buddha"). It is a smaller replica of Phra Singh Buddha made by Phaya Tilokaraj (the ninth king of the Mengrai dynasty) in 1477 in honour of the Eighth Buddhist Assembly.
At one period, the temple also housed a statue of the Emerald Buddha, which is now preserved in Bangkok as the country's main relic.
Despite the temple's cultural value, it nearly fell into ruins in the 18th century due to a declining population, but restoration began in the 19th century.
The temple's centrepiece is the central room of the grounds.
The central room on the grounds of Wata Phra Singh, the Luang Viharn, was rebuilt in 1925 and restored in 2008. Its interior decoration is impressive with a combination of bright red painted ceiling and majestic snow-white columns.
The smaller Wata Phra Singh premises called Viharn Lai Kham was built in 1345 and restored in the early 19th century. The building is a fine example of the northern style architecture of the Kingdom of Lanna. It is the home of the Phra Singh Buddha, which many Buddhists in Thailand are keen to see. Inside Viharna Lai Kham, beautiful murals (circa 1820) illustrating stories from the ancient Buddhist scripture Jataka have been preserved.
On the grounds of Wata Phra Singh is a Buddhist library built in 1477. It houses ancient manuscripts inside, and the outside of the library is elaborately decorated with figures of Buddhist spirits.
