Lamphun is a town (
thesaban mueang) in northern
ThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, capital of
Lamphun ProvinceLamphun is one of the northern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Chiang Mai, Lampang and Tak.-Geography:Lamphun is located in the river valley of the Ping River, surrounded by mountain chains....
. It covers the whole
tambonTambon is a local government unit in Thailand. Below district and province , they form the third administrative subdivision level. As of the 2009 there are 7255 tambon, not including the 169 khwaeng of Bangkok, which are set at the same administrative level, thus every district contains 8-10 tambon...
Nai Mueang of
Mueang Lamphun districtMueang Lamphun is the capital district of Lamphun Province, northern Thailand.-Geography:Neighboring districts are Mae Tha and Pa Sang of Lamphun Province, San Pa Tong, Hang Dong, Saraphi of Chiang Mai Province, Ban Thi of Lamphun and Mae On of Chiang Mai again.The main river of the district is...
. As of 2006 it has a population of 14,030.
History
Lamphun was founded in the 9th century CE by Queen Chama Thevi as the capital of the
HaripunchaiHariphunchai was a Mon kingdom in the north of present Thailand in the centuries before the Thais moved into the area. Its capital was at Lamphun, which at the time was also called Hariphunchai...
kingdom, the last and most northerly
MonThe Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...
kingdom in the area which now forms
ThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Situated around 25km south of
Chiang MaiChiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...
, it was constructed in the shape of a conch shell, following the Khuang River on its east side and divided by moats at the remaining points of the compass.
Queen Chama Thevi is remembered in the
WatA wat is a monastery temple in Cambodia, Thailand, or Laos. The word "wat" means "school".- Introduction :...
of her name, which is said to be the resting place of her ashes. Near the town's main morning market in the southwest of the city is a statue of the Queen at which offerings are still made today by citizens.
While still living in the north King Mangrai was visited by some merchants from the Mon kingdom, and hearing of the wealth of Lamphun he determined to conquer it, even against the advice of his councillors.
As it was deemed impossible to take the city by force, he sent a skilful merchant called Ai Fa to gain the confidence of the King Yi Ba, and in time he became the Chief Minister and managed to undermine the King's authority.
In 1281, with the people in a state of discontent, Mangrai defeated the Mon kingdom, and added the city and its wealth to his kingdom, while Yi Ba, the last king of Hariphunchai, was forced to flee south to
LampangLampang, also called Nakhon Lampang to differentiate from Lampang Province, is the third largest town in northern Thailand and capital of Lampang Province and the Lampang district. Traditional names for Lampang include Wiang Lakon and Khelang Nakhon. The city is still growing rapidly as trading...
. Lamphun was then incorparted into the new
LannaThe Kingdom of Lanna was a kingdom centered in present-day northern Thailand from the 13th to 18th centuries. The cultural development of the people of Lanna, the Tai Yuan people, had begun long before as successive Tai Yuan kingdoms preceded Lanna...
Kingdom. Ai Fa was subsequently appointed King, and King Mangrai began building the fortress
Wiang Kum KamWiang Kum Kam is the recently restored settlement along the Ping River, which was built by King Mangrai as his capital before he moved it to Chiang Mai...
as his new capital.
Lamphun is host to one of the northern Thiland's most important temples, Wat Phra That Haripunchai, featured on the reverse of the one-satang coin. The Phra That in the title indicates the presence of a BuddhaIn Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
relicIn religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
, in this case one of His hairs, which was interred in the chedi in 897Year 897 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Emperor Uda of Japan is succeeded by Emperor Daigo....
, which is probably the founding date of the Wat.
The town is surrounded by lush countryside punctuated by rice fields and orchards of the popular fruit, longanDimocarpus longan, commonly known as the longan, is a tropical tree native to South and Southeast Asia, in the Indomalaya ecozone known for its edible fruit.-Vernacular names:The fruit is known as longan or longyan in English...
, which is celebrated in a festival every August.
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