Wat Sri Suphan - Chiang Mai Silver Temple

Even the statues of Buddha are covered in silver. Wat Sri Suphan was originally built around 1500 to serve as the main temple for a silversmith village. While over the years parts of the temple were repaired with silver from the local village the process of completely covering the temple in silver only began in 2008. The inside of the temple is even more interesting with silver decoration, mirrors and bright colours mixed together. However due to old Buddhist rules women are not allowed to enter the inside of the temple and must remain outside.

The area around Wat Sri Suphan has lots of small silver studios and you can see real artists at work within the grounds of the temple. You can also buy or commission works of silver from these artists. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings the temple holds a monk chat where visitors can ask questions about Buddhism and meditate with the monks. The monk chats start from 17:30 till 19:00 and then until 21:00 there is a group talk and meditation for everyone. The monk chats are free but donations are welcomed.