Wat Jet Yot, seen from never before angles...

[rcpilot]

Close Aerial Views of Wat Jet Yot, shot Saturday morning, August 24 2013.

Hope you like it...

[Microwave]

This one's really cool, one of my fave CM wats. Thanks for sharing!

[silverhawk_usa]

I do enjoy these videos. Your skill with this small craft is commendable. You are also braver than I would be with the fear of crash landing in the moat or on top of some inaccessible temple. Good job of editing also. Keep them coming.

[elektrified]

Really great! Thanks for sharing. Haven't been there in about 7 years so I had forgotten about it.

[Gonzo the Face]

Thats great stuff rcpilot. Perhaps a word of caution,,,,,, do the authorities give you any difficulty with using your RC equipment? There are probably no restrictions against it but that doesn't mean they would say that, and then cause you some grief. I think with more practice and time experience, you can have something there that can prove not to be just a hobby, but I think that you have the makings of a serious money making machine there. Good luck with the future takes and I look forward to seeing and reading more from you....Seriously consider talking to dru2 about doing some write ups to go along with your video..... Again thanks and more please.

G

[fcgprg]

Also from me a great job and some really good pictures .Thanks for taking the time to do this you are a talented guy.

[samsara]

best one yet!

i, too, am interested if youve had any issues with people denying access or forbidding use of the quadcopter. have you ventured into paid gigs?

are you recording in 720 and 30 fps? how do still images turn out? can a camera focus well enough while the quad is in gps hover mode?

oh, and do you walk along with the thing while you're flying it?

wonder if there's a setup available where one could see a live view from the craft's perspective in the air. must be possible; though, likely quite expensive to set that up.

[northernjohn]

Thanks for the excellent video. You certainly have a talent for it.

On my to see list.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Can you do Loy Kroh road in the evening please?

[Tywais]

Wish he would quit showing these as I'm checking my bank account to see if I can afford a setup like that.

The university would be a good one also. Lot's of coeds.

[sustento]

Can I ask which quad you're using please?

[eden8]

nice~

i haven't visit Wat Jet Yot yet..

how did you manage to capture at a such a high angle?

[sustento]

best one yet!

i, too, am interested if youve had any issues with people denying access or forbidding use of the quadcopter. have you ventured into paid gigs?

are you recording in 720 and 30 fps? how do still images turn out? can a camera focus well enough while the quad is in gps hover mode?

oh, and do you walk along with the thing while you're flying it?

wonder if there's a setup available where one could see a live view from the craft's perspective in the air. must be possible; though, likely quite expensive to set that up.

It's called First Person View (FPV):

[dru2]

Here is some background on Wat Ched Yot (rcpilot - I'm a working man, can't keep up this pace...) Hope you all enjoy:

Ancient Chiang Mai (55)

Wat Chet Yot: Temple of the Seven Spires

Wat Chet Yot (วัด เจ็ด ยอด), Chiang Mai’s ‘temple of seven spires’, is located in a grassy, park-like setting to the northwest of the Old City. To get there, head west along Huai Kaew Road, turn right at the Amari Rincome junction, and follow the inner ring road north for about one kilometre. The entrance to the temple is to the west of the super highway, and is clearly marked by an old chedi that, through the vicissitudes of time and city management, now stands outside the sacred precincts, close by the side of the road.

This venerable complex, which is also known by the more formal name of Wat Potharam Maha Wihan (วัด โพธาราม มหา วิหาร), the ‘temple of the bodhi tree and great viharn’, is one of the oldest and most spiritually significant temples not just in Chiang Mai, but in the former Lan Na Kingdom as a whole. Established in 1455, it dates from the golden age of Lan Na, when Chiang Mai treated as an equal not just with nearby Burma, Laos and Siam, but also with the distant yet influential Buddhist realm of Sri Lanka, whose reform-minded monks were already established at Wat Pa Daeng on the flanks of Doi Suthep. The temple’s founder was King Tilokarat (1441-87), the illustrious twelfth monarch of the Mangrai Dynasty, under whose wise and auspicious rule the kingdom reportedly flourished as never before.

Tilokarat was a pious Buddhist, and according to the Jinakalamali Chronicle of the monk Ratanapañña (composed in Chiang Mai between about 1516 and 1527), the king ordered the planting of a sacred bodhi tree (ficus religiosa) and the establishment of a temple at this spot.

Thus, according to the Chronicle, ‘Phaya Tilok, on hearing the Sinhala monks [of Wat Pa Daeng] expounding the dhamma of planting bodhi trees, wished also to plant a bodhi tree. Looking for a suitable place, he discovered the site of Wat Chet Yot, to the northwest of Chiang Mai, on elevated ground, near the Rohini stream [either the Huai Mae Kha or the Huai Chang Khian, both of which flow nearby]. In 1455 he built a monastery here… In the same year he had a bodhi tree brought from the park at the foot of Doi Suthep [surely Wat Pa Daeng] and replanted at this spot, which is the reason this monastery is called Mahabodharama (Wat Potharam)’.

The same chronicle further notes that Tilokarat gave orders that the area around the newly-planted bodhi tree be laid out to represent the surroundings of the original bodhi tree at Bodhgaya in India, where Gautama Buddha had attained enlightenment in c500 BC. This meant recreating Bodhgaya’s sattamahathana or ‘Seven Holy Places’ in Chiang Mai. These are: (1) the Bodhimanda or Buddha’s adamantine sitting place beneath the Bo Tree; (2) the Animisa spot where Buddha stood unblinking staring at the bodhi tree for a week; (3) the Ratanacakama or ‘jewelled walk’ followed by Buddha between the bodhi tree and the Animisa place; (4) the Ratanaghara or ‘jewelled hall’ created by the gods to shelter Buddha; (5) the Ajapalanighroda or Banyan tree under which Buddha refused to be seduced by the daughters of Mara; (6) the pond of Mucalinda, the seven-headed naga who sheltered the meditating Buddha from the elements with his hood; and (7) the Rajayatana or mimusops tree where the God Indra offered myrobalan fruit to the Buddha.

But King Tilokarat went beyond merely recreating the surroundings of the original bodhi tree; he also gave instructions that his new temple should be built to resemble the revered Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya, originally founded by the Emperor Asoka c250BC and rebuilt in the 5th or 6th century AD during the Gupta Era, about one thousand years before Tilokarat must have stood surveying the area now bounded by the Super Highway to the east and Soi Wat Chet Yot to the west.

Since that time the great Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya was completely restored by Sir Alexander Cunningham during the 1880s, and today may bear little resemblance to Asoka’s original. However, modern archaeological techniques indicate that the Mahabodhi, at least from the time of the 6th century Late Gupta reconstruction, was made of brick and was based on a Mount Meru model (similar to the quincunx at the heart of Angkor Wat), with one main central tower surrounded by four lesser towers, the whole complex being aligned with the four cardinal points. The brick towers were covered with lime and decorated with niches sheltering stucco images.

But how was Tilokarat to know this? He had no plans or drawings that we know of, and Bodhgaya was a long way from Chiang Mai. No doubt he was advised by the Sinhalese-ordained monks attached to Wat Pa Daeng, members of whose order had certainly visited Bodhgaya, and this was likely his main source of inspiration. It has also been suggested that Tilokarat may have benefited from the knowledge of pilgrims with first-hand knowledge of another ‘replica’ rather closer to hand, the Mahabodhi Temple at Bagan in Burma, built by in the 13th century by King Nadaungmya (1211-34). Finally, it is likely that Tilokarat also had clay amulet representations of the temple at Bodhgaya.

In fact, the Mahabodhi Temple at Pagan (seriously damaged in the great earthquake of 1975 and since restored) is much closer in appearance and design to the original Mahabodhi at Bodhgaya than is Wat Chet Yot. Still, Tilokarat and his architects did not do at all badly, given the constraints of time and distance.

Wat Chet Yot’s main building, the Viharn Maha Pho, is both much smaller and more elongated than either of its namesakes in India and Burma. Also, it is topped by seven spires rather than five – hence its name – representing both the seven weeks Gautama spent at Bodhgaya attaining enlightenment and the Seven Holy Places associated with this process. Still, it is made of brick and decorated with plaster, including seventy beautifully-executed, high relief stucco thewada or angels which are artistically the building’s finest point. The viharn is entered from the east via a 16-metre long barrel-vaulted tunnel, and shelters a large seated Buddha image. From here two narrow stairways (now closed) lead up to the roof and its rather asymmetric collection of stubby spires.

At the height of his power and prestige, Tilokarat convened the Eight World Buddhist Council at Chiang Mai in 1477 with the aim of ‘cleansing the tipitaka’ or Buddhist scriptures of errors. These learned deliberations lasted a year, after which, according to 16th century Chronicle of Wat Chet Yot, Tilokarat ordered the building of a mandapa or scripture library to house the ‘cleansed’ tipitaka.

Tilokarat died in 1487 and was succeeded by his grandson, Yot Chiang Rai (1487-95). According to the Jinakalamali Chronicle, in the same year the latter ‘transported the body of his grandfather in a golden coffin to Wat Chet Yot, where it was cremated’; a large chedi was built to house the ashes. After Yot Chiang Rai’s own death his successor, King Muang Kaeo (1495-1526), ordered the building of an ubosot or ordination hall at Wat Chet Yot, which was completed in 1510. Just over four decades later, in 1558, Chiang Mai was conquered by King Bayinnanung of Pegu, and Lan Na became a Burmese tributary for the next 217 years. During this long period it is likely that Wat Chet Yot declined in importance, probably because of its strong associations with the prestigious Mangrai Dynasty and Lan Na independence.

Today, little enough remains of Tilokarat’s ‘Seven Holy Places’. During the 1940s E.W. Hutchinson thought he had managed to identify them all, but A.B. Griswold[ii], writing in 1965, could see only four including the Buddha’s Seat, the Amisa chedi, Mucalinda’s Pond, and the Rajayatana Tree. Hans Penth [who passed away recently in Chiang Mai, and whose Jinakalamali Index[iii] was indispensable in writing this account] notes that in the 1960s Mucalinda’s Pond had become ‘an oblong depression, slightly muddy during the rainy season’ which disappeared completely with the construction of the Super Highway.

Still, there is plenty to see, and Wat Chet Yot remains one of ancient Chiang Mai’s most important historical sites. In particular, a short distance to the northeast of Viharn Maha Pho, the brick chedi of King Tilokarat still stands in good condition and attracts offerings of flowers and incense, an appropriate memorial to one of Lan Na’s greatest kings.

Andrew Forbes and David Henley. © CPA Media, 2009

Hutchinson, E.W., ‘The Seven Spires’, Journal of the Siam Society, 39, 1 (1951), pp. 1-68.

[ii] Griswold, A.B. The Holy Land Transported (Colombo: Paranavitana Felicitation Volume, 1965).

[iii] Penth, Hans, Jinakalamali Index (Oxford and Chiang Mai: The Pali Text Society and Silkworm Books, 1994).

[Trujillo]

Do one of Wat Chedi Luang and get up close to the Buddhas in the alcoves high above...Will the Buddha police stop you?

[Saan]

Doi Suthep would look magic from the air. I sure the monks would love to see their wat from above and the abbot would give his blessing.

You are giving us a great new perspective of Chiang Mai. Thanks.

[rene123]

Very nice. Is this your own video? In any case it was well done. It takes skill to make a good video that is not boring.

[Microwave]

The FPV "how to" video left this non technical person dazed and confused, but I certainly enjoy the results.

The temple on the lake on Mae Hong Sohn city could be an interesting site for an FPV video.

Thank you again for uploading your vids : )

[MrBrad]

I found this TED talk on quadcopters. Sorry, I don't know how to attach YouTube videos. Click on the link, though; it's really fascinating stuff.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Tywais
Fixed embedded video

[Johpa]

I admit that over the past 30 years I have become quite jaded relative to photos of Thai temples, as well as photos of elephants, bar girls, etc. But those aerial shots are great.