North of the royal residence and linked by a connecting gateway lies the Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha, one of the most venerated sites in Thailand where people convene to pay respect to the Lord Buddha and His Teachings.  The Emerald Buddha is enshrined on a golden traditional Thai-style throne made of gilded-carved wood, known as a Busabok, in the ordination hall of the royal monastery.  The sacred image is clad with one of the three seasonal costumes (summer, rainy season, and winter).  The costumes are changed three times a year in a ceremony presided over by His Majesty the King.

The Emerald Buddha is in fact carved from a block of green jade and was first discovered in 1434 in a stupa in Chiang Rai.  At that time the Emerald Buddha was covered with plaster and was thought to be an ordinary Buddha image.  Later, however, the abbot who had found the image noticed that the plaster on the nose had flaked off, revealing the green stone underneath.  The abbot initially thought that the stone was emerald and thus the legend of the Emerald Buddha image began.

The Emerald Buddha was later taken to Lampang where it remained until King Tilok of Lannathai moved it to Chiang Mai, his capital, where it was fittingly enshrined.  In 1552 an interruption occurred in the Lannathai line of succession.  King Chaichettha of Luang Prabang, who was the son of a Chiang Mai princess and a Laotian king was invited to fill the gap.  However, after a relatively