Said to be the holiest shrine in the Northern Thailand region, the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep was founded back in 1936 in the most miraculous circumstances. Nowadays, it is seen standing grandly atop the Doi Suthep Mountain in the western outskirts of the city of Chiang Mai. Its origins are no less majestic, as the tale would have it.

According to the legend, a magical relic multiplied itself just before it was enshrined at the Wat Suan Dok in Chiang Mai. A suitable place was then needed to shelter the new relic. Being unable to decide on a specific site, the King placed the relic on the back of a white …