While all of the many Chiang Mai University campuses are both spacious and sprawling, there is no parcel of land so small yet so significant as the few square metres on which the university’s spirit house sits.
Generations of students have come to the university’s spirit house; to pray, to make offerings, to beg and to bargain, all in hopes of graduating, of achieving dreams, of passing exams and of receiving spiritual aid and guidance to navigate the many challenges of life.
Chiang Mai University students call themselves ‘Baby Elephants’. Baby Elephants have always looked towards the university’s iconic shrine for their spiritual alma mater, fondly calling their revered guardian spirit, ‘Grandfather Elephant’.
When the university was founded in 1964 it sat on 580 rai of land, mostly wild, which had either been donated, bought or procured via eminent domain. Remarkably, the university also sits on the ancient city of Wiang Jed Lin, adding a layer of history to its already rich story. Even in those early days, as seen in the accompanying photograph, the spirit house was a significant spiritual landmark of the university.