Wat Phumin
The cruciform hall on the naga, and the Whisper of Love mural of Nan

There is a moment, usually as you walk into the temple grounds in the old town of Nan in the morning, when you see it: a white building whose shape is unlike an ordinary temple hall — a cross-shaped (cruciform) hall that appears to sit on the backs of two large nagas, their bodies running out as the staircases on all four sides. Step inside and you find four Buddha images back to back, facing the four directions, and walls covered with old murals telling stories. This is the image that has lived in the hearts of Nan's people for a very long time, and it is the reason to come here before anything else.

Wat Phumin is the most distinctive temple and the symbol of Nan, a small town in a mountain valley in the north that was once the Nan kingdom, a semi-independent Lanna state with strong Lanna and Tai Lue (ไทลื้อ) culture. By tradition the temple was founded around the late 16th century by Chao Chetabut Phrommin, the ruler of Nan at the time — it was first called "Wat Phrommin" after its founder before the name shifted to "Wat Phumin". The cruciform hall on the nagas and the murals you see today, however, are the result of a major restoration in the late 19th century, which gave the temple the form it is famous for now.

What sets this temple apart from others is that everything comes together in a single building — the ordination hall, the assembly hall and the main Buddhas, designed as one cruciform structure set on a naga in a way that is very rare in Thai architecture. It is also a living, active temple, with people coming to pay their respects and make merit every day. Wat Phumin is so well known that its hall once appeared on Thailand's one-baht banknote, and it has become one of the images that stands for Nan in the eyes of the whole country.

• 1
  The cruciform hall on the naga

  A cross-shaped building · set on two nagas

  The heart of the temple — a cruciform (cross-shaped) hall that appears to stand on the backs of two large nagas, their bodies running beneath the building and rearing up as a head at one end with the tail at the other. Before you go in, walk around it from outside for a moment: you will see that this one hall combines the ordination and assembly halls in a single structure, and that setting a building on a naga like this is craftsmanship that is very rarely seen in Thailand.

• 2
  The four-direction naga staircases

  Entrances on all four sides of the hall

  Because it is a cruciform hall, Wat Phumin has doors and staircases on all four sides, with the front stairs formed as the bodies of nagas running down for you to climb between. Having four entrances matches the Buddhas facing the four directions inside, so whichever way you enter, you come face to face with a Buddha — a design idea that fits neatly with the belief behind it.

• 3
  The four outward-facing Buddhas

  Four Buddha images in the Subduing Mara pose · facing four ways

  At the centre of the hall sit four Buddha images in the Subduing Mara (Maravijaya) pose, back to back, facing out in the four directions, aligned with the four doors — a sight that is both sacred and striking in its arrangement. Stand in the middle of the hall and turn slowly to look around, and you will see a Buddha facing every direction. It is the spot to give the most time to, and where people come to pay their respects.

• 4
  The Pu Man Ya Man mural (Whisper of Love)

  The most famous mural in Nan

  The painting the whole country knows — a young man leaning in to whisper to a young woman, which has earned it the nickname the "Whisper of Love". Its beauty is in the expressions, the gestures and the detail of the dress, through which the artist gives two people a real, living feeling. It is on a wall inside the hall, so look for it and give it a little time — but never use flash, as it is an old painting and the flash fades the colours.

• 5
  The Tai Lue murals

  Jataka tales and old Nan life · around the walls

  Beyond the Whisper of Love, the walls around the hall are filled with Jataka tales alternating with scenes of old Nan and Tai Lue life — the dress, the trade, the people and the houses. Work your way slowly around the room, almost like reading an old picture-story, and you will find small, enjoyable details that help you understand the Nan of that era. This is what gives Wat Phumin a value beyond the beauty of the building itself.