The city of Nan's most famous wat is renowned for its cruciform ubosot which was constructed in 1596 and restored during the reign of Phra Chao Anantaworritthidet (Chao Nakhon Nan No.62nd) (1852–1892).
Exterior
It is the only temple which was built as if it were on the back of two immense snakes (or Nagas).
Each of the four entrances is preceded by a small corridor topped by a finely decorated, point-shaped structure (underlining the royal origin of the temple) and is equipped with smoothly carved doors; with Chinese demon guards in the east, flowers in the north and forest life motives in the
Lanna style in the west and south.
Interior
The
wat's interior is impressive. It is also a good example of
Thai Lue architecture. The structure of the roof is supported by twelve
teak pillars decorated with gold on black and red
lacquer and elephants' motives. The ceiling is also finely decorated. The flowered
altar resting in the center of the bôt supports four
Buddharupa of the Sukhothai style in the pose of
Bhūmisparsa mudrā ("Buddha Invoking Mother-Earth", "Bhumi to be His Witness" or "Buddha subduing Māra" - the hand pointed down to the earth with the fingers touching the ground), facing the four directions. The shape of the ears and nose shows a
Lao people influence. Next to the altar one finds a splendid
thammdat (a
dhamma seat used by teaching monks).
Murals
Well preserved murals of great value illustrating the
Khattana Kumara Jataka on the Northern wall and the
Nimi Jatakas on the Western wall as well as scenes of the local life of the time when they were painted by Thai Lue artists during the restoration of the temple at the end of the 19th century. Europeans can even be noticed: a reference to the arrival of the
France to whom the East of the Nan valley area was yielded in 1893. The style is rather distinctive and quite removed from the traditional style of temple paintings in Thailand. They somewhat resemble the style of the murals of Wat Phra Singh in
Chiang Mai and are very much like the murals of Wat Nong Bua in Tha Wang Pha District, just north of the city of Nan. The setting of the murals at Wat Phumin however, is that of the culture and everyday life of the Thai Lue people. The two most famous scenes are of greater dimensions than the majority of the other paintings: a man whispering to the ear of a woman (on the Southern side of the Western door) and the portrait painted on the side of the Southern door, which could be king
Phra Chao Anantaworritthidet. The large paintings on each side of the main entrance show a Chinese influence which can be explained by the origins of the Thai Lue people.
==Gallery==
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David K. Wyatt: Reading Thai Murals. , Chiang Mai 2004,
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David K. Wyatt (Transl., Ed.): The Nan Chronicle. SEA-Program Cornell University, Ithaca 1994,
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Carol Stratton: Buddhist Sculpture of Northern Thailand. Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2004,
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David K. Wyatt: Temple Murals as an Historical Source. The Case of Wat Phumin, Nan. Chulalongkorn University Press, Bangkok 1993,
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'Temples and Murals of Nan', in: Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, Ancient Chiang Mai Volume 3. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN: B006IN1RNW
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