Sitting atop a 306-step climb up Doi Suthep, a mountain in Lanna, lies Chiang Mai's shining Golden Temple, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Its construction began in 1386. The temple complex contains multiple places of worship, each decorated in intricate gold details and tiled serpent accents on the tiered roofs.
According to myth, a king chose the site of the temple by placing a relic on the back of a white elephant. The elephant walked to the top of Doi Suthep, turned around three times, knelt, and died. Elephants are a highly sacred animal in Thai Buddhism, and they are a recurring motif in religious sculpture.
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