Visiting Wat Chedi Luang
Wat Chedi Luang is a famous temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand. By visiting there, we had a bit direct feeling of the Buddhist culture in Thailand.
1 The background of Wat Chedi Luang
King Saen Muang Ma began building the Phra Chedi Luang to enshrine the relics of his father at the end of the 14th century, but King Tilokarat completed it. The chedi used to be 90 meters high before it was partly destroyed in an earthquake in 1545; it was to remain the tallest structure in Chiang Mai for over 500 years. The present restored chedi is about 60 meters high.
During the visiting, I was curious aboutthe “dragon” statues in every entrance of the buildings. By checking online, these are Naga and Makara which are gods of snakes. The one that has sad emotions with mouth open is Makara. And the one that is as proud as a peacock and shows its teeth is Naga. These two aquatic gods are both from Vedic mythology and are ridden by Varuna. They are in charge of precipitation and are protectors of water force including rain, dew, rivers, lakes and oceans. Since Southeast Asia produces a lot of rice and water is the key point of rice growing, Naga and Makara gain much respect there. Also, they are the connection of invisible world and normal people in visible world. Due to the fact that they guide people to nirvana, the temples use them to protect the entrance stage.
2 Decorations inside and my feelings
The temple is very clean and tidy. The buildings are all beautiful. Since when we went into a main hall, we need to take off shoes, the feeling of the ground was a bit cold but not uncomfortable.The outside was hot, but the inside was quiet, luxuriously decorated and the clear breeze blew gently. I sat on the floor for a while because I saw many people doing that. I didn’t think anything, did some meditation and just enjoyed the environment.
I took some pictures in the main hall. The temples in Thailand don’t forbid taking photographs. But when we get into the halls, we can’t wear strapless clothes and the trousers or dresses must blow our knees. The pictures I took are as follow:
3 Thai Monks’ life
After our visit, I found some articles on the web that say in Wat Chedi Luang, tourists can talk with the monks in English and discuss topics that they care about. We didn’t encounter that sinc ewe went there on weekend, only on weekdays monks can chat with visitors.
But when we walked in Wat Chedi Luang, we could see lots of monks, mostly very young, around 10 to 20 years old. I didn’t dare to talk with them because I didn’t know if there was a taboo. By searching information, being a monk in Thailand has certain benefits. Due to the Buddhismis the national religion and cultural traditions, being a monk for a period of time is a must for men.
Actually, being a monk has many advantages. Especially for men whose families are not very rich, being a monk means getting education cheaply. If they want to get a higher degree or learn English, temples are best choices. Like the chatting activities arranged in Wat ChediLuang, the monks can have lots of opportunities to practice English and what’s more, they can feel the real world by seeing visitors worldwide. Buddhist culture is also spread during these activities, so it is a nice way of propaganda.
Monks don’t need to be monks forever. It is like to join the army, for example, working and obeying all kinds of rules. But they can get food and other daily necessities for free and can accept education. Most monks will return to normal life and get married. Only a few people who really love Buddhism will continue the study, accept tough exams and finally be initiated into monkhood.
No matter considering the Buddhism organization or the monks themselves, the regulations are terrific. We visitors must buy a ticket to see the temple, so the organization is very clever in economy. All in all, this ensures a stable and developing Buddhism system in Thailand.
My feelings are as above after experiencing Buddhism culture in Wat Chedi Luang.
中文版：
柴迪隆寺是清迈的一所著名寺庙，拜访之后，我们对泰国的佛教文化有了一点直观感受。
1 柴迪隆寺的背景知识
兴建柴迪隆寺的国王名叫Saen Muang Ma，大概在14世纪末的时候开始的，（对应中国是明朝）寺内的主塔是为了珍藏他父亲的遗骨，但是直到Tilokarat这位国王的时候才修建完成。这座塔原来有90米高，但在1545年的地震中被损坏了，存留的部分大概60米高，仍然是500年来清迈的最高建筑（清迈不让盖超过这个高度的楼）。
在寺内参观的时候，我对每个殿门口左右两条“龙”一样的装饰很好奇，后来查了一下资料，这个是蛇神的雕塑，名字叫那伽或者玛卡拉。表情哀怨、撑著大嘴的是玛卡拉（Makara）；神气活现、呲牙裂嘴的则是那伽(Naga)。两者都源自於在印度吠陀神话（Vedic mythology），是水生动物，也都是伐楼拿（Varuna)神的坐骑。他们掌管雨水，也是一切赋予生命的水能量的守护者，包括雨露、河流、湖泊以及海洋等都算是它们的管辖范围。东南亚盛产稻米，而水正是影响稻米生长最重要的因素之一。因此掌管水源的玛卡拉与那伽自然十分受到东南亚人的敬重。此外，那伽和玛卡拉还象征着有形世界中的凡人与无形世界之间的联系，指引了通往涅盘的道路。因此所有寺庙门口都由那伽和玛卡拉守护在阶梯两旁。
2 大殿内装潢和我的感觉
寺庙的感觉是很干净整洁的，建筑都很漂亮。因为进入每个建筑里面都要脱鞋，我感觉到地面都是有点凉的，但也没有不舒服。外边很热，进殿之后里面特别安静、装潢得富丽堂皇，并且有凉风习习的感觉。我在地上坐了一会，因为看到大家都这么做。头脑放空，做点冥想，享受整个环境。
在大殿里拍了一些照片，这边的寺庙里面都可以拍照，但是不能露肩膀，裤子或者裙子也要过膝。下面是我照的一些照片：
3 泰国僧人的生活
后来看了网上的文章，发现在柴迪隆寺里还可以和僧人用英语聊天，聊他们关心的话题。这个活动我没碰到，因为我们去的时候是周末了，只有周一到周五可以聊。
但在寺庙里走的时候，能看到很多的僧人，大部分都很年轻，十几岁二十几岁的样子，我为了避免麻烦也没有去搭话。看网上的资料，在泰国做和尚其实是有特定作用的。因为佛教是国教还有文化传统的问题，过一段僧侣生活是每个男生的必须。
更多的吸引他们来的是寺院生活带来的实际利益。尤其对于家境一般的男生来讲，寺院就是能够低成本接受教育的地方，特别是想读更高的学历的，想学英语的，寺庙都是特别好的选择。像柴迪隆寺的僧人和游客聊天活动，都是要求用英语的，僧人们就有很多实际的练习机会，也可以通过游客开眼看世界。而且在这个过程中，也可以传播佛法，对于宗教事务来说是很好的推广机会。
僧人并不是终身的，就有点像当义务兵，要在寺庙工作和遵守戒律，但是能得到日常生活的供养，能学习，大部分人在经历这个过程之后还俗，结婚生子。只有很少数对佛学真的感兴趣的人，才会继续深入研究，接受严格的考核，最终受戒成为正式的佛门弟子。
不管是从佛教组织的发展，还是僧人们个人的发展来看，这样的制度都是很棒的，想想看我们进寺参观还得付门票呢，所以佛教组织的账算的很清的，这样才有一个稳固和持续发展的体系。
在柴迪隆寺逛了一圈，感受了佛教文化，有了以上这些启发。
（图片是我在参观时拍摄的照片。）
