The Chao Pu-Ya Shrine is a part of Chinese Temple located on the edge of Nong Bua Lake in Udon Thani, in the North East Region of Thailand.
Chao Pu-Ya Shrine in Udon ThaniThe Chao Pu-Ya Shrine is free to visit and open every day from 07:00 to 19:00.
About the Chao Pu-Ya Shrine
The Chao Pu-Ya Shrine is dedicated to worship of a symbolic Grandfather and Grandmother who represent the earliest Chinese immigrants to Udon Thani in the early part of the 20th Century. Udon Thani is a relatively new city having been established in 1893 when the regional Governor, Prince Prajak Silapakom, relocated his administration centre from Nong Khai to where Udon Thani stands today. Chinese immigrants were amongst the first settlers in the new city and played an important part in its development.
Gate to the Chao Pu-Ya ShrineThe Chao Pu-Ya Shrine is located within a small temple compound behind the city’s main railway station overlooking a lake and adjacent to Chaloem Phrakiat Park.
View of Nong Bua Lake from the Chao Pu-Ya ShrineThe Chao Pu-Ya Shrine is one of 6 structures in the temple grounds. The other structures are two large Chinese style entrance gates, two small hexagonal pavilions overlooking the lake and a larger square pavilion in which the 99 metre long dragon is kept for the performance of the dragon dance at annual Thung Si Mueang festival held every December in Udon Thani.
Guardian Lion at Chao Pu-Ya ShrineThe Chao Pu-Ya Shrine is a traditional Chinese style shrine with the same features as you would find at a temple in China, including the traditional Guardian Lion statues at each side of the entrance to the temple which are often misleading described as ‘Fu Dogs’.
Altar at the Chao Pu-Ya ShrineThe Chao Pu-Ya Shrine is an an active place of worship and local members of the Thai-Chinese community regularly come here to pray to the Grandfather and Grandmother idols in the temple’s altar. The worship of ancestors is a Taoist religious practice, rather than a Buddhist one, although many Thai-Chinese believe in both Buddhism and Taoism at the same time as the two sets of religious beliefs are generally considered compatible.
Ornamental garden at Chao Pu-Ya ShrineBehind the he Chao Pu-Ya Shrine is a small ornamental garden with a lake, a fountain, a small pavilion, a rock garden and a statue of Confucius. If you exit through the gate by the ornamental garden then opposite you will see the entrance to the Thai-Chinese Cultural Centre on the opposite side of the road.
Location of the Chao Pu-Ya Shrine
- The Chao Pu-Ya Shrine is located 3.4 km from Udon Thani Railway Station.