Wat Umong

Wat Umong (complete name: Wat Umong Suan Puthatham) is a 700 year old Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is located against the mountains of Doi Suthep and is south of Chiang Mai University.

Wat Umong is unique in that the resident monks live in a very natural setting, and occasionally feed the deer that live in the area. There are tunnels with Buddhist images below the chedi which can be easily explored.These tunnels were supposedly built by the King and painted with bush scenes so they could keep a famous but mentally deranged monk within the grounds of the monastery as he had a habit of just wandering off into the bush for days on end. Signs (proverbs) written in English and Thai hang from the trees on footpaths leading to the small lake where fish and turtles can be fed.

Of particular interest is an intact Ashoka Pillar similar to the one at Sarnath Museum which has since been adopted as the National Emblem of India.

Note: There is a temple with a similar name within the old city moat of Chiang Mai, whose complete name is "Wat Umong Maha Thera Chan".