SEA STEPPIL FARM. FARM, STEPPIL, FARM!: Finding an Old City in the New City

Exactly thirty years ago, in 1984, a lost city was rediscovered beneath Chiang Mai. It all began when some residents in a suburb of Chiang Mai found some ancient Buddhist tablets next to a temple. Abandoned to floodwaters and hundreds of years of silt, Wiang Kum Kam was held to be a myth….until archaeologists realized people were living right on top of it!!!

In 1286, King Mangrai built Wiang Kum Kam on the banks of the Ping River, to be to capital of his new Lanna Kingdom. But the rainy season was not kind to Wiang Kum Kam, and just ten years later, the King relocated the capital to the opposite shore, and the new city of Chiang Mai—which, hey hey, means new city in Thai—superseded its older brother.

Pil and I scooted out there one day in January during the dry season to avoid the flood. The ruins of Wiang Kum Kam are now (metaphorically) buried in the heart of a quiet suburb to the southeast. There are landmark signs pointing you in the right direction, but we got a little lost anyway, and made our way into the first complex of ruins via the backdoor of a temple (at the insistence of a monk). We had read that you can hire a horse carriage for a palfry penny, but there were none to be seen—just a few quiet noodle stalls also selling knick-knacks, and a lone group of Thai tourists.

Then, I heard the dulcet clatter of horse hooves on cement, and a carriage appeared! Alas, it was already occupied, but a kind noodle stall proprietress called one for us, and we didn’t even have to mix up the Thai words for “dog” and “horse” to ask her. (Both are high-toned maa, except that the horse-maa goes up twice. I have said that I like to jump dogs more than once this trip.)

While we waited, we poked around the in the ruins for a bit, which filled about a high school football field (we think; all I could tell you is that it was bigger than a dressage arena but smaller than a cross country course). All that was left was really the brick foundations and a few feet of the buildings, which were made of perfectly stacked bricks and some remnants of limestone plaster. There is nothing between the bricks—we didn’t see any mortar whatsoever, which meant that the builders of these old structures did a very fine job indeed, for their work to survive eight hundred years of flooding!

One of my favorite sights was seeing the meticulous grounds staff weed-whacking around ancient monuments.

At the foot of the yellow Buddha, a consternated elephant.

The remains of the serpent staircase.

Sagging under the weight of history.

The view from the passenger's seat.

Our carriage driver spoke about three words of English, but he was so eager to explain things, and we were so eager to understand, that we surprisingly got a lot out of what he was telling us. There was a beat-up binder of photocopied images from the original excavation sites, which we leafed through excitedly. I was also very fond of our horse Deng (which means "red"), whom our driver gave lots of affectionate rubs.

There are quite a few sites scattered around three square kilometers, and we traveled to them in style. Wiang Kum Kam is one of the few places we’ve found that had abundant contextual information, both in Thai and in English, on metal plaques at the various sites. Here’s a sample:

In AD 1558, Chiang Mai was under the Burmese rule and during this time several riots took place which might have affected the well-beings of the population in Wiang Kum Kam. In addition, the big flood in the mid of the 17^th century AD might have caused the people to abandon some of the religious monuments.

Wiang Kum Kam must have been repopulated in the early 19^th century AD when Chiang Mai Dynasty, under the patronage of Chakgree Dynasty, renovated Chiang Mai and towns in the area. During the reign of King Rama V, it was recorded that more people came to live in Wiang Kum Kam, for instance there was a restoration of Wat Chediliam in AD 1908 and Wat Changkam about this time.…

The Department of Fine Arts have discovered 42 historical monuments both inside and outside the city periphery. Most of the monuments found were temples which comprised mainly of a Vihara, a Chedi, and a wall. Many temples show traces of other structures both inside the temple wall and outside during different times.

A group of historical monuments on the west part of the city was buried under flood sediments of 1-2 meters deep, deeper than monuments found in other parts of the city. This might have occurred around the 17^th century AD. Several monuments show traces of architectural development up to the 18^th century AD. It is found from archaeological studies that monuments comprise of diverse architectural styles. Ancient artifacts found at these monuments, such as heads of Buddha image, Buddha tablets, stucco works, terra cotta and ceramics, and architectural components, have given insightful information about Wiang Kum Kam during the 14th-18^th centuries AD.

The only thing that escaped the sludgy flood was Wat Chedi Liam, a five-tier chedi lined on all four sides with Buddha alcoves. In 1908, the temple was restored by a Burmese business tycoon, who either added some Burmese flourishes then or emphasized what was already there. It’s hard to say, because the record is so slim, and because the temple might have been altered during 300 years of Burmese occupation. Monks have been living at this temple ever since the restoration. The archaeological restoration is ongoing, and recent finds suggest that the area was occupied in the 8^th century AD, long before King Mangrai and his Lanna Kingdom were even a wink in his mother’s eye. In 2003, Ming Dynasty ceramics were unearthed at one of the sites. Who knows what they’ll find next?

We found the sheer level of detail insane, and can't begin to imagine how long it must have taken to construct. All of those little curlicues, and the gold leaf! I keep picturing some poor novice climbing all the way to the top to re-apply gold paint to Buddha's toenails….

Our carriage ride ended at what looked like a cross between a visitors' center and a wat. There were even more elaborate, beautiful buildings here, including a tiny shrine with an all-white, filigreed exterior. It was gorgeous, and it also had the best mural ever inside along the walls, illustrating all of the goings-on around Wiang Kum Kam, right up to the present day.

This was one of my favorite days in Chiang Mai. We were only a few kilometers from the center of the crowded city, and yet it was so restive out there on the other banks of the Ping River. There were canals all over the place, everything was green, and we had a great time with our carriage driver and his horse. Also, I've been a fool for archaeological sites ever since I gave up on dinosaurs and convinced my parents to send me to archaeology camp in Maryland.

There are just so many fine details to ferret out in these places, and the glory of Thai wats is that every inch is covered in something, whether it's goldleaf or wood carving or acrylic paint.

And because I can't help myself, and take too many photos for my own bandwidth's good, and even though I don't understand exactly why there are strings coming from the Buddha's heart, here are a few (a very few) details I noticed that day.