A Buddhist Temple at Sunrise

by Samantha Linnett (United States of America)

I didn't expect to find Thailand

A Buddhist Temple at Sunrise: Our Tour of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep It’s 4:15am and the alarm on my phone starts yelling at me. I roll over, exasperated, and swipe it away. Facing back toward the dark ceiling, a single thought reverberates through my mind... What were we thinking? Reluctantly, I crawl out of bed and attempt to make myself human. Dressed in elephant pants (it’s too early to worry about looking touristy) and modest t-shirts, my best friend and I wander downstairs to find the amazing Akyra Manor hotel staff waiting for us, coffees-in-hand. We groggily climb into the van with our way-too-awake-for-this-hour tour guide, and begin our journey up the mountain. Our destination, the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep temple in Chiang Mai, is nearly 640 years old. Resting at the top of the Doi Suthep mountain, the temple is more than grand. It overlooks the city of Chiang Mai, completely covered in gold, gemstones, and, of course, beautiful Buddha statues. Ornate little bells hang from every roof as cool and colorful tiles cover the ground. All of this, almost 700 years ago, made its way up the mountain on the backs of elephants. It doesn’t take long to really wake up once we reach the base of the temple. Standing atop a mountain as the morning light starts to shine over immediately brings me peace, and soon I wasn’t so unhappy to be awake anymore. Our guide hands us our entrance tickets, and, with our faithful K-9 companion Tiger, we begin ascending the 309 dragon-bordered stairs. The quiet encasing Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is indescribable. We look around and realize we are a few of the only people there so early. Legend says that the temple was built to hold a piece of bone from the Buddha’s shoulder. One of those bones was mounted on a sacred white elephant - which was, indeed, not white, but was considered to be flawless in all ways - who climbed Doi Suthep and stopped near the peak. “After trumpeting three times, the elephant laid down and gently passed away,” our guide tells us. “The place where he lay is now the site of where Doi Suthep’s temple was founded.” As we approach the gateway and take off our shoes to go inside, we begin to hear a noise, slowly rising the closer we come. “Buddham Saranam Gacchâmi… Dhammam Saranam Gacchâmi… Sangham Saranam Gacchâmi… Dutiyampi Buddham Saranam Gacchâmi…” The monks of the temple are performing their morning prayers and chanting, the sound of which was nothing short of magical. We kneel in front of the Buddha for a few minutes, just inside the prayer room, absorbing the sound. I could stay for hours, but there is still the rest of this beautiful temple to experience. We participate in the morning ritual of donating food to the monks, giving each a different snack or meal item, from ramen noodles to sticky buns. We later make a contribution to the temple (all included in the tour price) and receive a blessing from one of the monks in the form of holy water and a white wrist tie. The wrist tie represents the blessing, and it is said that it will break off in a time of need to protect us. As Buddhist monks in Thailand follow a tradition where they do not touch women, the monk lays the wrist ties in our hands, rather than tying it himself. Our tour guide takes care of the tying part for us. Energetic and a former Buddhist monk himself, we learn so much from our guide’s stories, not only about Buddhism, but the history of Thailand and the city of Chiang Mai as well. Words cannot comprehensively describe the effect this temple has on me. Its stunning beauty and absolute warmth leaves me feeling deeply thankful and completely at peace. I couldn’t be happier than to have experienced it so early, before the day’s crowds arrived. It is truly a credit to the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep temple that a 4:15am wake up could feel so good. So, what were we thinking? Little had we known, flawlessly.