Choke Virus

Hey every body. This is really important so all MSN users should keep an eye out for this.

Tonight, i discovered a virus in the MSN network. I barely got out of being infected and i found the cure so i decided to post it in order to help users if they get it.

This virus can go under the name 'Choke.exe' or 'PICT1324(2)(1)(1)(2)(1)(1)(1).exe '

This is a file i compliled from some sites on how to remove it

How to remove the Choke Virus

This virus is an autorun virus, meaning it runs when u start your computer.

To remove it you have to go into msconfig and stop the file from starting when Windows does. Do as follows: 1. Click on the Start button and click on Run 2. Then type in msconfig and click OK 3. You should see a screen that has System Configuration Utility in the blue bar at the top 4. Click on the Tab that says Startup 5. Locate an entry that says MSN Messenger as the name. The filename will have choke.exe at the right hand side 6. Click the box beside the name MSN Messenger 7. Click the Apply button in the bottom right hand side of the screen 8. Then when prompted restart your computer and when Windows loads up again locate the file on your computer (it should be in the C:/My Documents/Messenger Received Files directory) and then you should be able to delete it This should work. The file may also be called PICT1324(2)(1)(1)(2)(1)(1)(1).exe

OSAKA

Famous for its down-to-earth citizens and hearty cuisine, Osaka combines historical and cultural attractions with all the delights of a Japanese urban phenomenon. At night Osaka is live-wired with flashing neon, beckoning with promises of tako-yaki (fried octopus ball), good times and lots of beer.Often maligned by visitors as 'ugly' and still best viewed under the neon light of night, Osaka is currently undergoing a facelift to woo daytime visitors to its concrete and pachinko city grid. Waterfront developments are restoring Osaka's image as a port town and creating new attractions for tourists.

When To Go

Summers in Osaka are hot (26-34°C) and sticky, which can make travelling quite uncomfortable. In winter, although snow is rare, it does get cold (1-10°C) and you will need to pack plenty of warm clothes. The best time to visit Osaka, if you want to catch some hanami (cherry blossom) action, is April through to May or, if you would like to see the leaves change colour, October and November. Both shoulder seasons offer mild temperatures (15-22°C) and not too much rain. However, hanami season is also when most Japanese take their holidays; many popular destinations get very busy and you will need to book accommodation well in advance.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas (often abbreviated to "Vegas") is the most populous city in the state of Nevada, United States, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally known vacation, shopping, entertainment, and gambling destination. It was established in 1905 and officially became a city in 1911. It is the largest U.S. city founded in the 20th century.

The name Las Vegas is often applied to the unincorporated areas of Clark County that surround the city, especially the resort areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip. This 4½ mi (7.2 km) stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard is mostly outside the Las Vegas city limits, in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester.

The center of gambling in the United States, Las Vegas is marketed as The Entertainment Capital of the World, also commonly known as Sin City or Vice City, due to the popularity of legalized gambling, availability of alcoholic beverages at any time (as is true throughout Nevada), and various forms and degrees of adult entertainment. The city's glamorous image has made it a popular setting for films and television programs.

How the essay is scored.

Scoring Guide

The essay will be scored by experienced and trained high school and college teachers. Each essay will be scored by two people who won't know each other's score. They won't know the student's identity or school either. Each reader will give the essay a score from 1 to 6 (6 is the highest score) based on the following scoring guide.

SCORE OF 6

An essay in this category demonstrates clear and consistent mastery, although it may have a few minor errors. A typical essay

• effectively and insightfully develops a point of view on the issue and demonstrates outstanding critical thinking, using clearly appropriate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position
• is well organized and clearly focused, demonstrating clear coherence and smooth progression of ideas
• exhibits skillful use of language, using a varied, accurate, and apt vocabulary
• demonstrates meaningful variety in sentence structure
• is free of most errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics

---

SCORE OF 5

An essay in this category demonstrates reasonably consistent mastery, although it will have occasional errors or lapses in quality. A typical essay

• effectively develops a point of view on the issue and demonstrates strong critical thinking, generally using appropriate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position
• is well organized and focused, demonstrating coherence and progression of ideas
• exhibits facility in the use of language, using appropriate vocabulary
• demonstrates variety in sentence structure
• is generally free of most errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics

---

SCORE OF 4

An essay in this category demonstrates adequate mastery, although it will have lapses in quality. A typical essay

• develops a point of view on the issue and demonstrates competent critical thinking, using adequate examples, reasons, and other evidence to support its position
• is generally organized and focused, demonstrating some coherence and progression of ideas
• exhibits adequate but inconsistent facility in the use of language, using generally appropriate vocabulary
• demonstrates some variety in sentence structure
• has some errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics

---

SCORE OF 3

An essay in this category demonstrates developing mastery, and is marked by ONE OR MORE of the following weaknesses:

• develops a point of view on the issue, demonstrating some critical thinking, but may do so inconsistently or use inadequate examples, reasons, or other evidence to support its position
• is limited in its organization or focus, or may demonstrate some lapses in coherence or progression of ideas
• displays developing facility in the use of language, but sometimes uses weak vocabulary or inappropriate word choice
• lacks variety or demonstrates problems in sentence structure
• contains an accumulation of errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics

---

SCORE OF 2

An essay in this category demonstrates little mastery, and is flawed by ONE OR MORE of the following weaknesses:

• develops a point of view on the issue that is vague or seriously limited, and demonstrates weak critical thinking, providing inappropriate or insufficient examples, reasons, or other evidence to support its position
• is poorly organized and/or focused, or demonstrates serious problems with coherence or progression of ideas
• displays very little facility in the use of language, using very limited vocabulary or incorrect word choice
• demonstrates frequent problems in sentence structure
• contains errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics so serious that meaning is somewhat obscured

---

SCORE OF 1

An essay in this category demonstrates very little or no mastery, and is severely flawed by ONE OR MORE of the following weaknesses:

• develops no viable point of view on the issue, or provides little or no evidence to support its position
• is disorganized or unfocused, resulting in a disjointed or incoherent essay
• displays fundamental errors in vocabulary
• demonstrates severe flaws in sentence structure
• contains pervasive errors in grammar, usage, or mechanics that persistently interfere with meaning

Essays not written on the essay assignment will receive a score of zero.

Gyeongbokgung

Gyeongbokgung
Korean name
Hangul:	경복궁
Hanja:	景福宮
Revised Romanization:	Gyeongbokgung
McCune-Reischauer:	Kyŏngbokkung

Gyeongbokgung (Gyeongbok Palace) is a palace located in northern Seoul, South Korea. It was the main and largest palace of the Joseon Dynasty and one of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty.

The palace was originally constructed in 1394 by Jeong Do-jeon, a Korean architect. Parts of the palace were burnt down during the Japanese invasion in 1592. After years of neglect and failure to restore it due to the sheer size of the logistics involved, it was reconstructed during 1860s as a massive 330 building complex with 5,792 rooms. Standing on 410,000 square meters of land, it was a symbol of majesty for the Korean people and the home of the royal family. Soon after the assassination of Empress Myeongseong by the Japanese agents in 1895, her husband, Gojong of Korea left the palace and the Imperial family would never return to the palace.

In 1911, the Japanese occupiers destroyed all but 10 buildings during its occupation of Korea, constructing the Japanese General Government Building for the Governor-General of Korea in front of the throne hall, deliberately disrupting the geomancy of Seoul. Oddly, Japan took various pictures of poverty in Korea but did not take a single photograph of this historical site before its destruction. Many Korean historians who wish to know the exact layout, color and design have searched endlessly in Japan and other nations who took photos of Seoul prior to the palaces destruction.

The major buildings on the site include Geunjeongjeon, the Imperial throne room (national treasure number 223), and Gyeonghoeru Pavilion (national treasure number 224), which stands in an artificial lotus lake and rests on 48 granite pillars. The pavilion is depicted on the Korean banknotes of 10,000 won.

Today the palace is open to the public, and the National Folk Museum of Korea is located on the site. The National Museum of Korea was there too, until it was relocated to Yongsan-gu in 2005.

Many Koreans still hope to resurrect part of the original palace. Archeological work has brought 330 building foundations to light. However, the exact design, color, height, etc may never truly be determined.

What Is A Mortgage?

With the price of property ever increasing and no sign of the long awaited bursting bubble of the housing market, we ask what can young first time buyers do to gain their freedom and set up a home of their own in such an expensive arena and what is a mortgage anyway?

A promise to pay

On every note of currency in circulation in Britain today there is a promise to pay the bearer a sum of five pounds, ten pounds or whatever. Given that promise the piece of paper has become the money itself. Originally there was only the currency in circulation that equivalent to all the gold reserves held in the vaults of England. Not any more though.

The same is true of the buying a house. If you see a property for sale at say, £150,000 nobody expects you to have £150,000 to pay for it. (There are of course those lucky few who do have the readies, but they are unlikely to be reading this article). So, in order to get the house that you want, you borrow that amount and promise to spend twenty five years or so paying it back along with all the interest.

The magic mortgage

Let’s say you have a bit of cash, let’s assume that your beloved auntie has recently died and left you a small fortune, which is handy, and your parents help you out a bit to buy this house that costs £150,000. Let’s say that despite advice to the contrary, it’s in such good condition and you find the current owners so pleasant that you decide to pay the asking price. So, you stomp up a deposit of £50,000. The remaining £100,000 will be your mortgage, your loan.

Traditional High Street borrowing

Let’s assume that you borrow from a traditional High Street name, such as the Abbey National. They will offer you the £100,000 and a variety of options as regards the interest. As a first time buyer it is vital that you understand the significance of the interest rate.

Unlike personal loans the interest rate can vary. This fluctuates on all loans depending on the base rate set by the Bank of England. They use interest rates to try to control the economy of the country. So, if the governor of the Bank of England raises interest rates by 0.5% that will have a significant impact on your monthly repayments against a mortgage of £100,000.

One of the products that your lender will offer you is a fixed rate mortgage. This will be fixed for a period of between typically two and five years, sometimes more. Other options might include a capped rate which means the rate can fluctuate up to a certain figure, but not above it. Both of these types of mortgage are useful if you are on a tight budget.

You should always speak to somebody to get actual figures of how much your repayments would be if the interest rates rose by a few percent so that you know when you might get into trouble with the repayments. This is something that you should do before you consider how much of a loan you can afford.

The ladder and when to get on it

Waiting for the house price bubble to burst might be an appropriate choice, or it might not. Nobody can guess what the market is going to do. It has for the last few years neatly avoided doing what most experts predict. So, if the experts are fooled then what chance do us mere mortals stand of predicting what it will do?

With prices going up all the time if you want to buy a house or a flat, then the sooner you get on the ladder the better. But whether you want to stretch your finances with a mortgage ultimately has to be a decision that only you can make.

Many developers are building “starter homes”. These are small properties priced so that people can make a start on the ladder. Once you have a property and you can increase its value, over and above the market rises, you can sell it. Making a profit will allow you to buy a slightly more expensive property without necessarily having to increase your mortgage by a lot. In this way you can slowly climb the ladder.

A moving story

The alternative is if you live in a region of the country that is expensive, (such as the South East), then you might consider moving to a cheaper region. The North South divide is still quite noticeable and so what can only buy a small property in the South can buy something quite substantial ‘up North’. But this does assume that you can either work from home or expect to get another job where you move to.

The decision you have to make is, does it really matter if you are on the housing ladder or not?

External Links:

• FSA - Consumer Information - Mortgages - Information on mortgages from the FSA
• Mortgages : Directgov - Money tax and benefits - More information from the official government advice website

More Information:

• Refinancing a Mortgage
  It's very easy to sign mortgage papers and forget all about the details of the loan. As long as the monthly payments are made, many people don't give their mortgage much thought. However, as the economy fluctuates, mortgage rates do also, and substantial cost savings over the life of mortgage could be realized by refinancing.
• Mortgage Approval with Bad Credit
  Do you want ot buy a home but have been refused? This article explains some of the options that you have to get accepted.
• Mortgage Terms: What is the Best Length?
  How long would you like you mortgage to run? The simple answer would be as quickly as possible, but not everyone can, which means higher repayments and more strain on the household budget.

Brochure : Wat Phrasingha Woramahawiharn

Wat Phrasingha Woramahawiharn

Location

Wat Phrasingha Woramahawiharn is the first class of royal temple, located at No.2 Samlan road, in the city wall of Chiangmai 50200, Tel. 053-275139 on a wide area; 25-2-15 Rai which is equivalent to 10.2 acres. It’s the provincial administration office of Sangha (Monks)

The Founder

Wat Phrasingha was established by the 5^th king of Mangrai dynasty; phaya Payoo in the year 1888 B/E In the former time, the front of the temple was the place where merchants coming and exchanging their goods with one another so that the people called Lee Chiang Phra market and the temple was also called Wat Lee Chiang Phra too.

Around the year 1943 the prince Mahaprom brought a Buddha Sihingha image form Kamphaengpetch for offering the king Saen Muang Ma; the 7^th king of Mangrai dynasty. The king in stalled the Sihingha image in Wat Lee Chiang Phra. Latterly the people called this Wat as Wat Phrasingha (Sihingha) in accordance with the name of Sihingha image.

King Ananda Mahidol; the 8^th king of Chakri dynasty had accepted and announced Wat Phrasingha as a royal temple, in first class by royally named Wat Phrasingha Woramahawiharn on Sunday the 30 th November 2483 B/E

The Fine Arts Department had registered the following relics and ruins in this Wat as follows, Pagoda, Chapel, Wiharnluang, Wiharnlaikam, Hohtrai which announced in the government gazette series #52 Part.#75 dd. 8^th March 2478 B/E and Series# 96 Part.#97 dd. 16 June 2522 B/E

The bony stupa of Phaya Kamfoo

Phaya Kamfoo was the 4^th king of Mangrai dynasty ruled Chiangmai during the year 1877-1879, formerly he had ever been the ruler of Chiangsaen. After his death, his son; Phaya Payoo ascended the throne as the 5^th king of Mangrai dynasty. He built the Wat of Lee Chiang Phra in 1888 B/E and also built a stupa for keeping Phaya Kamfoo’s bone and ashes in this Wat.

Kruba Sriwichai’s meditation walking house

The meditation walking house where Kruba Sriwichai practiced meditation was built by Luang Anusarnsoontorn in 2471, and it was repaired once again in 2547 by Phra Dhammasithajarn; the present abbot.

Ancient materials & Ruin

Phrasingha or Phrabuddhasihing: Phrasingha is a bronze Buddha image, gilded Buddha, casting in architectural style of Chiangsaen period, round face, incision round chin, sitting cross legged with one meter wide lap, his trunk is sturdy and fat, big chest, unequal fingers, a short sash robe above his chest, his right hand placed on right knee while left hand resting on his lap. Phrasigha is an important image; in particular, the people had regarded this image as the tutelary image of Chiangmai for a long time. Every year, during Songkrant festival this image is always brought out from the gilded temple to place on the decorated carriage, carrying in the long procession around the city for the people to sprinkle water.

Phrachaotongthip: It’s a gilded Buddha image, a duplicate of Phrasingha, the people called Phrasinghanoi (Noi means small) it was made by Phaya Tilokaraj; the 9^th king of Mangrai dynasty in the year 2020 B/E which is a memorial to the 8^th world Buddhist Assembly. Phrachaotongthip is 14.5 inches wide, (Measuring at its lap) 21 inches tall, weighing 27 kilograms, inlaid with precious stones around its pedestal, cast with the alloy of copper and gold which is always shining.

The 2 parts chapel (Song Sangha Ubosostha)

This chapel is a special architectural shape which differs from general chapels; it has 2 facades and arch doors, facing north and south, a canopy in the middle. It’s the place where the Tongthip image is installed, divided into 2 parts; one part for monks while opposite part for priestesses (Lady Monks) following the ancient footsteps of old Sangha system in Buddha time. Lady Monk should be ordained 2 times; firstly by priestesses religious rite, and then entering the priests religious rite in different part of chapel.

This ancient chapel was built by Phaya Saenmuangma, the 7^th king of Mangrai dynasty during 1928-1944 B/E And was twice restored; firstly by Phaya Kawila in 2355 B/E and secondly by Phaya Dhammalangka in 2360, as for the canopy in the middle was also built in this period too.

Phra Pokklao; the 7^th king of Chakri dynasty paid a royal visit to the northern provinces in 2469 B/E During his stay in Chiangmai, he had donated some money to the 9^th ruler of Chiangmai; Chao Keo Nawarath as a beginning fund for restoring the chapel, this restoration was completed in 2472 B/E During in the year 2541-2542 the Wat and the Fine Arts Department had the chapel restored in the occasion of His Majesty the king’s 6^th round birthday anniversary (72 years) And during the year 2546-2549 the Wat and the Fine Arts Department had once again restored the chapel in the occasion of Her Majesty the Queen’s 6^th round birthday anniversary by changing the roof, dragon-head (Chohfa) lime arts and gabble ends.

Wiharnluang

Wiharnluang means the big temple; it was built in Lanna architectural style which is 24 meters wide and 46 meters long. Its wall and posts are made of iron-frame concrete, while upper parts are made of the entire teak, the roof is covered with tiles which consists of dragon head (Chohfa) serpent head gabble end (Bairage) and swan on the roof-top. It has two facades; front and back. The front facade has 3 doors, each wall has 5 windows. The former Wiharnluang was a temple with 4 gabble ends. It was too dilapidated so that Kruba Sriwichai and the 9^th ruler of Chiangmai including general people joined to build a new Wiharnluang at the same site in 2467-2468 B/E, costing 20,000 Rupees. Latterly the Wiharnluang became dilapidated, the Wat had to have dragon head, serpent head gabble ends and tiles changed in 2525 B/E, HRH.Crown Prince Wachiralongkorn; on behalf of the King came to preside over the dragon head lifting ceremony on 12^th June 2529 B/E

Kulai (Five tiered roof stupa)

Kulai is located behind the gilt temple (Wiharn Laikam). It’s a small stupa which has the form of pagoda with fivefold roof. There is an over ground tunnel passage form the back wall of gilt temple. Chiangmai local notation reveals that Kuai is an ancient pagoda which the 11^th king of Mengrai dynasty; Phaya Muangkeo built in 2359 B/E. Latterly the 2^nd ruler of Chiangmai; Phaya Dhammalanga restored and found a golden box in which many precious antiques were kept, and then he replaced the box in the same place inside the Kulai. Big celebration was taken place after restoration.

Wiharn Laikam (The gilded temple)

Wiharn Laikam is a temple in Lanna architectural style which is 8 meters wide and 30 meters long. The roof is covered with terra-cotta tiles and Chohfa-Bairaga (Dragon head and serpent head gabble end) it was built by Phaya Muangkeo; the 11^th king of Mengrai dynasty during 2038-2068 B/E It was restored in several times as follows;

By Phaya Kawila in 2353 B/E

By Phaya Dhammalanga in 2359 B/E

By Chao Kawilorossuriyawongse in 2406 B/E

By Chao Intawichayanont in 2429 B/E

By Ven. Phra Dhammarajanuwatr in 2497 B/E

By the Fine Arts Department in 2539 B/E

The Buddhasihing image is installed inside and there are mural paintings: The left wall is the story of Songthong while the right wall is the story of Suwana Hongse painted by skilled artists showing the way of life, culture and old tradition of Chiangmai.

Phrathat Luang (Big Chedi or Pagoda)

Phrathat Luang is a big pagoda; 25 Wah high (50 meters), the square base is 16-1-6 Wah (around 32.5 meters) There is an elephant standing on each base; it was built during Mengrai dynasty’s period. And it was restored by Ven. Kruba Sriwichai in 2469 B/E The people regard this pagoda as one of 12 fixed star-years, particular for those whom was born in the 5^th year or Pee Marong (Horse Year)

Hoh Trai

Hoh Trai is a national ruin, it was built by the first ruler of Chiangmai; Phaya Kawila in the year 2354 B/E as a library for keeping Buddhist scripture. The big restoration was made in 2460 B/E by the king Phrapok Klao during his royal visit to the northern region. The architectural shape of Hoh Trai is beautiful and neat, showing the value in history, arts and culture. Hoh Trai is a two floors building; first floor was made of bricks and smeared with lime. The walls are decorated with statues of different animals such as lions, elephants, deer and tigers, etc. The second floor was made of entire wood and decorated with gilded statues and arch-door; it was restored by the abbot in 2549.

Hoh Dhamma (Kruba’s Hoh Trai)

Hoh Dhamma is located north-west of big pagoda built on the 10^th August 2469 B/E during the 9^th ruler’s reign of Chiangmai; General Chao Keo Nawarat. Kruba Sriwichai had collected different Palm scriptures and kept them in this Hoh Dhamma. Luang Anusarnsoontorn and Chua Yong Seng had donated sum of money for constructing. Hoh Dhamma was restored during Phra Dhammasithajarn’s reign in the year 2548 B/E

Canopied house

Canopied house is a round structure with four arches and stupa roof. It’s standing at the south-west of Wiharn Laikam.

Wiharn Tanjai

Wiharn Tanjai is a small temple where in the Buddha Tanjai image was installed. It’s standing behind the temple office, near canopied house.

Wiharn Buddha Sai-Yaas

It’s a small temple where in the reclining Buddha image was installed. It was built in 2094 B/E The image was made of bricks, covered with lime, facing the west and heading toward the north. The first restoration was made by Ven. Phra Ubalikunoopamajarn in 2493 B/E, while the second restoration was made by Ven. Dhammasithajarn in 2537 B/E

Education institute

Wat Phrasingha consists of 3 kings of educational institute as classified herewith;

1. Theological school for monks, in Dhamma and Pali education.

2. Sunday Buddhist School for children, Buddhist basic and moral philosophy education.

3. Dhammaraj Suksa School for monks and laymen, in secondary school level education.

Written by Jaree Soontornsing

Translated by Prawit Tantalanukul

1. อนุสาวรีย์ครูบาศรีวิชัย Kruba Sriwichai’s monument

2. หอไตร Hoh Trai

3. พระวิหารหลวง Wiharn Luang

4. พระอุโบสถสองสงฆ์ Song Sangha Ubosostha

5. พระธาตุหลวง Phrathat Luang

• 5.1 พระธาตุบริวาร (Surrounded Phrathat)
  

6. พระวิหารลายคำ Wiharn Laikam

7. กู่ลาย Ku Lai

8. พระวิหารพระนอน ......Wiharn Reclining Buddha ( Wiharn Phranorn)

9. หอไตรครูบาศรีวิชัย Hoh Trai Kruba Sriwichai

10. พระวิหารพระเจ้าทันใจ Wiharn Tanjai

11. กู่มณฑป (พระธาตุเชี้ยงเมี้ยง) …..Ku Mondop

12. หอจงกรมครูบาศรีวิชัย Kruba Sriwichai’s meditation walking house

13. กู่อัฐิพระอุบาลีคุณูปมาจารย์ …. Ku Phra Ubalikunoopamajarn

14. สถูปพระเจ้าคำฟู The Stupa of Phaya Kamfoo

15. อนุสาวรีย์พญาเม็งรายมหาราช Mengrai Maharaj’s monument

16. หอระฆัง ….. Belfry

17. กู่อัฐ ….. Relic

18. อาศรมพระอาจารย์แพทย์ใหญ่ชีวกโกมารภัจจ์ …. (Jivaka's House)

1. ศาลาสหัส-หงษ์ มหาคุณ … (Sala Sahasa-Hong Mahakhun)
   

2. ศาลาสมเด็จกิตติโสภณ (Sala Somdejkittisophon)
   

3. ศาลาสงวนราชทรัพย์อุทิศ (Sala Sa-nguan rajasabutit)

4. ศาลา 90 ปี พระธรรมสิทธาจารย์ 90 (Sala 90 Years Phra Dhammasithajarn)
   

5. ศาลาเจ้าแม่กาบแก้ว (Sala Mae Kab Kaew)

6. ศาลาร่มเย็น (Sala Rom Yen)
   

7. สำนักงานวัดพระสิงห์ฯ Wat Phrasingha Woramahawiharn’s office

8. อาคารพระธรรมสิทธาจารย์ Phra Dhammasithajarn’s building

   1. สำนักงานคณะสงฆ์ จ.เชียงใหม่ Chiangmai Clergy’s office

   2. สำนักงานคณะสงฆ์ อ.เมืองเชียงใหม่ Amphurmuang Chiangmai Clergy’s office

   3. โรงเรียนพระพุทธศาสนาวันอาทิตย์ Sunday Buddhist School

9. ห้องสุขา Toilet

10. แท้งค์น้ำ Water tank

11. ร้านค้า Shop

1. อาคารพระอุบาลีคุณูปมาจารย์ …Ubalikunoopamajarn’s Building

2. อาคารพระธรรมสิทธาจารย์ 92 ปี …92 years Phra Dhammasithajarn’s building

3. อาคารเฉลิมพระเกียรติฯ … Glorify’s building

4. อาคารพระธรรมราชานุวัตร …Phra Dhammarajanuwad’s building

5. โรงอาหาร Cafeteria

1. กุฏิเจ้าอาวาส Abbot’s House

2-28 กุฏิ (23 ไม่มี) Monk’s House

อาคารทางศาสนา Religious’s building

ส่วนบริการ Service Department

โรงเรียนธรรมราชศึกษา Dhammaraj Suksa School

กุฏิ Monk’s House

เขตพุทธาวาส Shrine Unit

เขตสังฆาวาส Monastery Unit

เขตอภัยทาน Compassion Unit

*Wiharn aka ฺีBuddha image hall

*Phrathat aka Relic of the Buddha

*Ku aka Stupa

*Hoh Trai aka Scripture hall

*Sala aka hall, meeting place

Wat Phra Sing, Chiang Mai - Thailand : The history

Within the walls of the ancient city are several old temples of interest. Among them, Wat Pra Sing is perhaps the largest and most interesting, although it may not seem so at first glance. Upon entering the main gate, you're greeted by a large and dusty parking area. Across the lot is a large wiharn (prayer hall) with an intricately carved front. This is your first clue that there's more here than there might appear.

The altar at right is the one inside the large chapel. It's beautiful, though rather standard for Thai temples these days. We were somewhat amused by the plethora of "account books" strewn about on the right side of the altar (behind the columns in the picture we're afraid). In any temple that gets visitors, there is almost always a donation box with a guest book for you to write your name and amount donated in. Well, in this temple there were at least half a dozen boxes, each with a different purpose - maintenance of the temple building, electricity, taxes, etc. - and so each with its own account book. Upon making a donation to one or more purpose, you then have to scrabble around for the proper book to write it down in.

Elevated ho trai with sculpted base.

As you face the big wiharn, to your right is a small elaborate ho trai built on a high stone base. The base has many beautiful carvings which have recently been renovated, as have the gilded carvings on the gable ends. Continuing on around the complex in a counter-clockwise direction, you'll find a drum tower set in a yard shaded by many old trees. Sometimes there's an artist or two at work here, and selling their work of course.

Directly behind the large prayer hall is a smaller building that serves as the temple's ordination hall (ubosot). This is where young monks are ordained and some other important religious events are held. The wooden building shelters a large brick and plaster altar, that I suspect pre-dates the outer building and was originally out in the open. The clues to this are the altar's shape and the fact that it sits in the middle of the building rather than at one end. The orientation of the entrances on a north - south axis rather than east - west is another clue. Like the library, the ubosot has recently been restored.

Wiharn housing the Pra Sing Buddha image.

The Pra Sing Buddha image.

Next to the ubosot, in a line with the wiharn, is a large whitewashed chedi. Next to it is a small but very ornate Wiharn which is worth a closer look. The outside is decorated in gold and ochre in a style which is ornate but without the gaudiness of many other temples.

The decoration inside is also quite rich. There is a brocade-like gold and red pattern on parts of the roof and back wall behind the altar. On the altar here (and not on the altar of the main wiharn) sits the Pra Singh Buddha image from which the temple takes its name. "Pra" is Thai for a priest or cleric and also used to refer to Buddha images. "Singh" means lion, but may be a corruption of the Thai word for Sri Lanka, where the image is supposed to come from.

Wat Pra Singh was founded in the 14^th century to enshrine the ashes of King Kam Fu.

From Wat Pra Singh, you might want to go on to Wat Chedi Luang, which is just a short walk away. Another important temple within the walls is the oldest: Wat Chieng Man. It's another short walk away, near the Chang Puak gate and the Thai Airways ticket office.

The entire temple was completely restored in 2005 - 2006. To see pictures of the "new and improved" temple, see our online photo gallery, part of our travel journal.

Getting There

The temple is located at the end of Pra Singh Road (what a coincidence) which nearly bisects the old city, running from the Tapae gate all the way to the temple, which is just inside of the Suan Dok gate.