Day 4: Is it Really Heritage Preservation?

Day Four, 7 January 2016.

Showing off our dazzling smiles in front of the dazzling White Temple

We set off for Chiang Rai this morning. The bus ride there was rather bumpy but it was worth the rough ride the moment we reached our first destination. The White Temple. It was a piece of art done by an artist that created a grand temple which was entirely white. It was breath-taking. As I stood there, the only thing I could do for the first few moments was to witness its grandeur and splendour in its entirety.

However, after walking around for quite some time, I realised everyone within the temple were mostly tourists. There were hardly any locals within the vicinity. There were also no monks to be seen anywhere. This left a deep impression on me. Is this really a temple? There were no smells of burning incense. There were no visuals of people offering respects to Buddha. The most prominent sound were the buzzing of tourists and announcements not to block the way. This definitely was a temple based on design and architecture but with regards to heritage and religious value, I could see none. As I walked up the steps of the temple, into the main hall where I thought there would be actual Buddhist proceedings going on, it was just a wax model of a monk sitting in a small room in front of a statue of Buddha.

The paintings within the room did convey Buddhist teachings though. It showed paintings which depicted hell, Buddha, temples and even temptation in a very queer way; through modern examples such as famous movie characters like Spiderman, transformers and Star Wars to name a few.

However, no matter how I looked at it, this was still just a work of art. The exterior of the place is undoubtedly that of a temple. However, without the religious practices and proceedings of a normal temple, could this place even be called a temple just because it looks like one? Even the monk inside was made of wax!

A tourist we interviewed said that he really liked it because he thinks it is towards the right direction into developing Chiang Mai and yet preserving their heritage but I beg to differ. This is no doubt a great step forward for the art scene in Chiang Mai but I don’t see any heritage being preserved in the temple because it did not originate from traditions or cultures that people once followed. This was a piece of art in the form of a temple. But from this trip, what I’ve learnt from Prof Walsh and Prof Andrea, as well as my observations, is that a temple without its stories and living experience is nothing but a structure, an empty shell. That is not heritage.

After we visited the white temple, we then went to the black house, a directly contrasting entity where most of the structures were black. It was also an amazing display of architecture. Each of the 36 structures within the black house had a different design, different feel to it but they were almost all made up of identical items. Buffalo horns, crocodile skins and skulls to name a few. It seemed like the artist was trying to convey one message through all these different interpretations which is something related to death and the afterlife. One observation I’ve made though is that every structure in the black temple is symmetrical. I was very impressed and overwhelmed that all 36 structures have been so intricately designed such that symmetry was involved at every nook and corner of the place.

Symmetry everywhere. Tourists everywhere as well.

However, I find myself asking the same question to myself yet again. Is this heritage preservation? Or is this just art which merely depicts some hint of cultural norms? I find myself inclined to say that both the white temple and black temple are similar in this regard. They are ultimately pieces of art. There has been no organic value within them that has been passed throughout the times. I foresee that it will be more of a tourist attraction than a cultural heritage site. According to my observations, around 80% of the people inside both venues were tourists which is also why I’m inclined to believing that they are tourist attractions that are just being advertised as heritage sites.

The more heritage sites I visit, the more I realise that the true meaning of heritage sites are slowly being eroded because their organic core, the teachings they could’ve passed down are slowly getting lost. Tourists just want to come and take a look around. Most of them do not understand the stories and legacies behind what they are looking at which I feel is the true treasure of protecting a heritage site.

We headed back to the hotel after that and bonded even more over dinner and had more late night heart to heart talks within the group. By now, I feel as though I’ve known this group for a long time, much longer than just the 4 days we’ve spent together.