Wat Sri Suphan, also known as the Silver Temple, is located on the famous Saturday walking street, Wua Lai Road, in downtown Chiang Mai.
It was built in 1500 during the Mangrai Dynasty when the 11th king of Lanna, Phra Muang Kaew, ruled the kingdom between 1495 and 1525.
The monarch brought over the image of Phra Chao Jedtue in 1500 and constructed a temple to dedicate to the holy image of the Buddha in 1509.
Phra Chao Jedtue has remained in the temple since the 1500s. He has been respected by many generations of Lanna denizens until modern times.
In 1994, Phra Kru Pitak Sutthikhun, the abbot of Wat Sri Suphan, decided to renovate the temple building where the holy image of Phra Chao Jedtue is located.
Wualai is known as the largest community of silver craftsmen in Chiang Mai. Local artists and villagers came together to create the heavenly images on silver plates to decorate the main hall of the temple.
The artists depicted the story of Buddhism and important Buddhist sites around the world on the silver plates to decorate the walls of the main hall.
Wat Sri Suphan's main hall is the first Lanna-style temple building made from pure silver.
Even though the temple is open to the public, Lanna tradition forbids women from entering the main hall.
Instead they can pay their respects to Phra Chao Jedtue from outside the hall where a special area for female guests has been created.
