Take a step back in time at The Lanna Folklife Museum of Chiang Mai and learn about Chiang Mai’s history and traditions. Set in the former district court building, right opposite the Three Kings Monument, the Lanna Folklife Museum recounts the rich culture and history of Northern Thailand. This white colonial style two-storey builing once belonged to Chao Inthawarorot Suriyawongse, the 8th ruler of Chiang Mai. It was then trans-formed into the Municipal Court of Chiang Mai until it was totally renovated to showcase the beauty of centuries-old northern heritage. The museum now aims to revive Lanna cuture and houses waxworks, textiles, religious sculptures, wooden decora-tive ornaments and tools with clear and well translated English information.
Folklife is an integral part of all Chiang Mai lives and an essential part of the city’s history. The Lanna Folklife Museum features 18 exhibition rooms, presenting in the four bigger ones: temple reproduction (with details on the ar-chitecture, religious accessories and beliefs), Lanna folk accessories (and their meanings in Lanna festivals), Lanna textiles (with hand woven silk clothes from each different part of the North) and Lanna paintings (with a very interesting reproduction of the different steps in painting inside a viharn-temple). Other rooms show Buddha images, folk culture, musical instruments, traditional dances, history and war equipment. There is also a vast exhibition of old ceramics and Buddha images. The building has two floors and it’s visit takes about an hour and a half. Folklife is an integral part of all Chiang Mai lives and an essential part of the city’s history; it is an excellent introduction to Lanna lifestyle and a wonderful indoor place to spend a little time when it is raining outside. A garden and a delicious coffe-shop surround the museum, making it the perfect place to start the visit in the old city. After discovering all the secrets of the Northern city of Chiang Mai through this museum, you are bound to see the “Rose of the North” in a different light.
LANNA FOLKLIFE MUSEUM :
Phrapoklao Road. T. Phra Singh. Chiang Mai.
Tel. 053-217 793
Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 8:30 am. to 5 pm.
