Wat E-Kang (GPS: 18.74985, 98.99933; Thai: วัดอีค่าง ) is a Thai Buddhist monastery presently in a state of ruins, located in the historic city of Wiang Kum Kam, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. All that remains today of the monastery is its brick stupa and the base.
The word "kang" means monkey in the northern dialect. This is because the area surrounding this monastery used to be overgrown and teemed with the Cerocopithecinae monkeys.
Thailand's Department of Fine Arts conducted work of this temple in 1985-86. A chedi was discovered behind its viharn, which unusually faces north, towards a branch of the Ping River. The bell-shaped chedi and the viharn share the same base. The base of the chedi is wide enough for pilgrims to circumambulate. Based on remains of the base of the viharn, it can be seen that it was supported by 16 columns. In 2003, the archaeological team found traces of a wall to the west of the chedi.
Discoveries at Wat E-Kang helped archaeologists study the flood pattern at Wiang Kum Kam. Evidence of a great flood taking place in the area could be determined from layers of sediments there. Also discovered here were pieces of terracotta which came from the kilns of Sankampang and Wiangkalong. Based on the architecture of Wat E-Kang, and the fact that tablets written in Fak Kham and Lanna Dharmma alphabets were found, it can be established that Wat E-Kam dates from the 16-17 centuries.
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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
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