Wat Phra That Chom Ping

The most common legend says it was built, or begun, under King Tilokarat of Lanna. Another says Queen Chamadevi of Hariphunchai built it after Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, and it was completed or greatly restored under Tilokarat. All sources present these as legends.

The fuller legend, from an aggregator site and a Pantip post, says Queen Chamadevi founded the temple; after it fell into ruin, Nanthapanya, a foster-mother of King Tilokarat, restored it as Wat Chom Phi Liang, while a friend, Ai Chom Phrae, built Wat Chom Ping Lum. In 1457, in Tilokarat's reign, the pregnant wife of the governor Chao Muen Dong Nakhon, disguised as a man, repelled an army from the south; she celebrated at the temple, built a chedi shaped like a heap of rice and renamed it Wat Chom Phing Chai Mongkhon, later Chom Ping. Daily News (2025) calls it a memorial to Tilokarat's victory over Ayutthaya.

The chedi is golden, about 34 m tall and enshrines Buddha relics, in Lanna style with Burmese influence on a gilded, multi-cornered stepped base. The principal image in the ubosot is Phra Phuttha Chom Phing Chai Mongkhon.

The temple is famous for the inverted shadow of the chedi inside the old ubosot — not the viharn, as some assume. Light reflected from the chedi passes through a small hole in the shutters of the darkened ubosot and projects an upside-down, full-colour image onto the floor or a white cloth laid by the temple: the principle of a pinhole camera.

The image appears day or night whenever there is light, but is sharpest on sunny days from midday into the afternoon; TrueID says the chedi looks most golden from about 15:00. At night it depends on floodlighting, and on overcast or rainy days it fades. No source records who discovered the effect or when.

One aggregator site adds details not yet confirmed elsewhere: lightning struck the chedi in 1957, the ubosot was restored in 1958 (oral account), the inverted shadow was noticed in 1970 (discoverer unnamed), and Khruba Siwichai restored the viharn, whose principal Buddha is about 7.30 m tall.

Several Lampang temples show the effect — sources count four to six. The best known is Wat Phra That Lampang Luang, where women may not enter the shadow room; no such rule has been reported at Chom Ping, but ask on site.

Many prehistoric human remains have been excavated in the grounds, and the temple museum displays finds such as potsherds, bronze ornaments, spearheads, a Buddha head, bracelets, stone beads, a rooster bowl and a bone cup. When and by whom the excavations were made is not known.

No Fine Arts Department registration or restoration record has been found for the temple. Its regular events are merit-making on Buddhist holy days and festivals.

The temple opens about 08:00 to 17:00 or 18:00 and is free, with parking, toilets and a merit-making area. There is no sign marking the shadow inside the ubosot, so ask a caretaker, avoid flash and let your eyes adjust. Combine it with Wat Phra That Lampang Luang or Wat Phra That Doi Phra Chan, about 24 km away.