Dev Mandir Chiang Mai

A Hindu temple in a city full of Buddhist ones, and that alone makes it worth an hour of your time if you're curious about how the Indian community here worships. Several shrines sit under one roof, so you get a lot in a small footprint, and the building is modern and kept spotless. Festivals from the Hindu calendar are marked properly throughout the year, which means the place feels lived in rather than laid out for photographs.

Tuesday evening is the one to aim for. There's a programme and a meal offered to the community, and that's when the temple is at its most alive. Worth saying: this is a place of worship first. One reviewer felt distinctly unwelcome as an outsider, so go quietly, dress modestly with shoulders and knees covered, and don't treat the shrines as a backdrop. Most people report a calm, incense-heavy space and no trouble at all.