Chedi Kiew or Chedi Khao (white pagoda), 1961. A Caltex gas station used to be at the corner in the area of the present Chiang Mai Municipality Office.
Chedi Kiew is on the bank of the Ping in the middle of the Wichayanon and Wang Sing Kham Road junction near the Chiang Mai Municipality Office. It is a round-base cone shaped Chedi, 6 meters wide ad 8 meters high. The body is covered with smooth cement with no decorative patterns. It is painted in white. Its tip is indented and it has ordinary pagoda decorations.
The evidence of its origin is unclear. However, a legend was told that once a Burmese King led his troops to surround the city and challenged the ruler of Chiang Mai to bring the best diver to compete with the Burmese. His deal was if the Chiang Mai diver could stay under water longer than his, he and his army would return home. Lung Piang an old man volunteered to compete and the ruler of Chiang Mai accepted him. The two rulers agreed to hold the competition near the area where the chedi is situated now. They had two poles posted in the river at a distance. When the two army commanders were seated and the divers waited at the post, the generals signaled for the contestants to start diving. So much time passed and the people started to feel uneasy. Finally one of the divers came up to breath. He was the Burmese representative. The people on the Chiang Mai side were relieved and waited for their hero to come up to declare victory. Time passed; so long that it was clear that Chiang Mai had won the victory so the ruler sent his men down to tell the old man. The men returned and reported that Lung Peang could not return. He had sacrificed himself for the city. He tied himself to the post and was drowned in the river. As a monument for his bravery, the ruler commanded a chedi to be built at the Ping River bank.
Moreover, as the style and height of the chedi was different from normal monumental structures, it was estimated that the chedi could be a Stupa containing the ashes of some Burmese nobles during the time when the Burmese ruled Chiang Mai around 1558-1774. Some even said that the chedi marked the entrance of a lengthy tunnel connected to the one under the Chedi Luang base in the center area of the city.
Near the Chedi Kiew was a residence of the Chiang Mai ruler called the Khum Tha Chedi Kiew that is now the United States Consulate, Chiang Mai.
Reference
Udom Rungrueangsri. (1999). Chedi Kiew. in Saranukrom Watthanatham ThaiPhak Nuea (vol. 3, p. 1585-1586). (in Thai). Bangkok:
Foundation for Thai Cultural Encyclopedia Siam Commercial Bank.
Chiang Mai University Library
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Chiang Mai University, Funder
Usanee Thongchai, Advisor and project expert
1961
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