A white chicken and a horse, you will see the symbols of these animals in many places in Lampang. But what is their significance? Why a chicken and a horse? This article will answer these questions.
- Symbols of Lampang – white chicken
- The legend of Buddha and the white chicken
- The legend of Buddha and the five sages
- Symbols of Lampang – horse and carriages
Symbols of Lampang – white chicken
The white chicken is the symbol of both the commune and the province of Lampang. It appears on the emblem, seal, and flag. In the commune’s emblem, the chicken is depicted in a circle on a green background. However, on the flag and provincial seal, it is in the mandapa of Wat Phra That Lampang Luang.
The legend of Buddha and the white chicken
The symbol of the white chicken is associated with the legend of Buddha. After his enlightenment, Buddha came to this region to teach people. When Lord Indra came to know about this, he took the form of a white chicken. In this way, he wanted to awaken the Buddha so that he could fulfill his duties. He also woke up the citizens so that they could give alms to the Enlightened One in time and prepare food for the monks. This event contributed to giving the city the name Kukkut Nakhon (City of Chickens). The word Kukkut is similar in pronunciation to the sound “kook-kook” made by a chicken.
The legend of Buddha and the five sages
A slightly different version of the legend tells about five sages who stayed in Doi Yassakiti (now Mon Phraya Chae). They offered food to the Buddha there, but the visibility that day was not good due to heavy cloud cover. The sages were worried because they thought that due to the bad weather, the Buddha had not eaten his meal – in fact, the Enlightened One had eaten his meal. Lord Indra, seeing the sages’ too much anxiety, created a white chicken. A bird crowed on Mount Yassakiti to let the sages know that the Buddha had eaten the food offered to him.
Today, the symbol of a white chicken appears on road signs, bridges, buildings, and ceramic products.
Symbols of Lampang – horse and carriages
Another symbol that you can often come across is the horse. Moreover, Lampang is currently the only city in Thailand where carriages are still used. It is one of the city’s characteristic features and a great attraction. Tourists are very willing to use this means of transport while sightseeing. This is why Lampang is often called muueang rót máa (city of horse carriages).
There are no records of the exact date when carriages appeared in Thailand, although they were used during the time of King Rama IV. During the reign of his successor, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), there was a flourishing of carriages, which were bought in England and the USA.
In Lampang, this type of vehicle began to be used in 1916. It was in this year that the first carriage was awarded to the city, during the times of Chao Bunwat Wongmanit – the last ruler of Lampang. It was the first time this type of transport was legally used there.
Images of horses can also be seen very often in Lampang in the form of monuments, exhibits, and paintings.
